A DRUNK man who threw a bottle in a bloody brawl and left a chef with a lifelong scar is not a danger to the public says a Worcester judge.

Nathan Simpson Etheridge was handed a suspended sentence at Worcester Crown Court on Monday for affray after violence erupted in the city's Foregate Street despite the judge acknowledging that the victim was 'still suffering' from the injury two years later.

The 35-year-old threw a bottle which missed the victim, Nicholas Mezzone, but smashed and cut open his arm during the incident on October 4, 2019. The Crown did not pursue a wounding charge in relation to the same incident, offering no evidence. Mr Mezzone will receive no compensation because of Simpson Etheridge's limited means.

How we reported the sentence

The victim's injuries were so serious he permanently lost the feeling in his arm, will be scarred for life and had to stop working as a chef and take lower paid work, the court heard.

Mr Mezzone was taken to hospital by ambulance and required stitches for a deep 5cm to 6cm cut to his forearm. He later attributed his Bell's palsy (facial muscle weakness or paralysis) to the attack.

Recorder Martin Butterworth, sentencing, said Simpson Etheridge was 'very drunk' on his own admission at the time of the attack. The court heard that the defendant had 29 convictions for 49 offences, including dangerous driving.

He said: "You threw a bottle which broke and caused a serious injury to a man's arm, an injury from which he is still suffering."

The judge described the cut as a 'deep laceration to his arm, exposing muscle' and which required an orthopaedic referral.

However, he added: "I acknowledge - and it's accepted - that the bottle wasn't aimed directly at this man. It was deployed in the course of an affray. Drunken violence in the street at night is what it amounted to. You have previous convictions for violence although a lot of the offending has been to do with cars."

Recorder Butterworth told the defendant the case fell into the most serious bracket in the sentencing guidelines in terms of culpability and that the offence was aggravated by his 'bad record'.

However, the judge factored in a report from a probation officer who had interviewed Simpson Etheridge and said he had expressed a wish to change.

"You have a child who I'm told you want to provide for if you can although the fact you have lost your licence due to other offences is hindering that desire" said Recorder Butterworth.

He went on to describe how the defendant had shown compliance while on licence and had completed a thinking skills programme and that Simpson Etheridge had 'reflected maturely about your life and your future'.

"There are indications that you are someone who could present a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. Appropriate punishment need not only be achieved by immediate custody. It is possible to punish you in the community. You don't have a record of poor compliance with court orders. I don't regard you as posing a risk or danger to the public."

Simpson Etheridge was was sentenced to 70 weeks in prison suspended for two years. An alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement was also imposed for 90 days. This means he will be fitted with a tag which monitors if he has consumed any alcohol.

No unpaid work order was made but he must complete 30 rehabilitation activity requirement. Recorder Butterworth said the order would be a challenging one for the defendant.