A 20-YEAR-OLD man who threw a glass at a member of staff in a nightclub – hitting another customer – and punched a doorman outside has been sentenced to 90 hours of community service and put on probation for nine months.
No one was seriously injured in the incident, in Havana nightclub in the early hours of 17 November last year. But Relief Magistrate David Cadin told Jack Paul Harrison that if there had been a serious injury he would have appeared in the Royal Court to face a more serious sentence.
Advocate Katie Ridley, prosecuting, told the Magistrate’s Court that Harrison was near the bar in the club just before 1am on the night of the incident, and a member of staff asked him to move so that he could dispose of some broken glass in a bin behind the bar.
Advocate Ridley said: “He threw a glass at the staff member. It narrowly missed him but it hit a woman in the chest and smashed on impact.”
CCTV footage from inside the nightclub showed the incident and Harrison being escorted out afterwards.
Advocate Ridley said Harrison then walked off up Bath Street towards Snow Hill but later returned to Havana and punched a doorman. The incident was also captured on CCTV and shown in court. Neither the doorman nor the woman hit with the glass suffered serious injuries.
Police officers on patrol near the nightclub arrested Harrison and when interviewed, he claimed he could not remember throwing the glass and said the assault on the doorman had been “more of a push than a punch”. But he admitted common assault and grave and criminal assault.
The advocate added that Harrison had a previous conviction from the Magistrate’s Court in July last year for speeding.
Advocate James Bell, defending, said Harrison had written a letter of remorse and had not drunk alcohol since the incident. He also quoted from a statement by the woman who was hit with the glass, in which she said: “I do not want to see the young man being prosecuted for something that did not cause me any harm.”
The Relief Magistrate told Harrison: “These are serious offences. You are fortunate that neither of the victims sustained serious injuries.
“The incident could have been so much worse. You could have been in the Royal Court facing a far longer sentence.”
He added: “This is your opportunity to make a change.”
