A MAN who hit someone in the head with a vodka bottle and later brawled with his friend near McDonald’s in front of “frightened” onlookers has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.
Michael Morton McBride (32), from Glasgow, was sentenced in the Royal Court on Friday to three years and one month at La Moye for two violent assaults.
He had previously pleaded guilty to all charges, including grave and criminal assault, malicious damage and resisting arrest.
Crown Advocate Emma Hollywood, prosecuting, said the first incident took place shortly after midnight on 27 October outside St Thomas’ Church in St Helier and involved the defendant attacking a man with a vodka bottle.
The victim went there to confront McBride, believing he had sold his teenage child cocaine earlier that evening.
CCTV footage shown in court captured McBride hitting the man over the head multiple times with the glass bottle.
He then pushed the man to the ground and continued to punch and kick him – before the victim’s child intervened.
The victim suffered multiple head wounds – one requiring four stitches – and bruising across his body.
The second assault took place around midday on 10 March on Halkett Street following a “prolonged verbal argument” near McDonald’s.
McBride, who was intoxicated, punched and kicked his friend and threw him to the floor before kicking a metal pole and punching a sign.
Advocate Hollywood said that “members of the public were left frightened for their safety” and that they “did not want to interfere” in case he turned on them.
McBride then fled but was found nearby by police. He resisted arrest, was verbally abusive, and had to be restrained by four officers.
Advocate Greg Herold Howes, defending, described it as “a grappling between two friends that blew out of proportion”, saying the injuries were “not long-lasting”.
He argued that McBride is a man of good character who cares deeply for his partner, had a difficult childhood, and is awaiting a mental health assessment.
The court, however, rejected the mitigation.
Lieutenant Bailiff Olsen, who was presiding, said the public had to be protected from “violence and thuggery on the streets of St Helier” and concluded that there were “no exceptional circumstances” to reduce the sentence.
The jurats sitting were Jeremy Ramsden and Steven Austin-Vautier.
