Thug jailed after glass attack in town centre bar

Dylan Russell attacked Karl Meggs after a fight broke out in a Hartlepool bar in the early hours, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Mr Meggs suffered cuts to his head and ear, although doctors hope scarring on his head will not be permanent.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Meggs said: “What happened has left me wary of going out or being alone in a group of people.

“The injuries caused me a lot of pain at the time and afterwards.

“I need to wear a hard hat for work, which has been painful to put on.

“The scar may heal in time, but I currently have my hair longer than I would like to cover it.

“I hope Dylan Russell understands what he did to me, and I never want to see him again.”

The court heard a fight broke out in Bar Paris in Victoria Road at about 1am.

In the fracas, someone struck Russell who wrongly blamed Mr Meggs.

Russell, 24, of Redcar Close, Hartlepool, denied wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm on September 1 last year.

He admitted the less serious offence of unlawful wounding, and was convicted of the more serious offence by a jury.

The court heard Russell has previous convictions for violence, including another offence of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm for which he was jailed for six years.

Stephen Constantine, defending, said in mitigation: “Mr Russell does have a poor record, but that is mostly from when he was much younger. Since serving the six-year sentence, his response to supervision is described as good.”

Judge Tony Briggs sentenced Russell to three-and-a-half years in prison.

The judge told him: “I accept this was something you did in the heat of the moment, although that will not be any consolation to the unfortunate Mr Meggs.

“It is clear you have difficulty controlling your temper, but there is a lot of independent evidence to show you are capable of behaving yourself and had been doing your best to reform. By pleading to the lesser offence you accepted responsibility for causing the injury, and have since shown remorse.

“Taking all matters into consideration, the sentence can be lower than it might otherwise have been.”