A Worcester man was hit in the face with a pint glass and left “looking like something in a horror film” in a dispute over a seat at a city centre pub.

Lee Pawley has admitted a charge of wounding at Worcester Crown Court but denies wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Peter Grice, prosecuting, told a jury 37-year-old Kevin Matthews was among a group of seven or eight people who went to the Swan With Two Nicks pubs after watching the FA Cup final on television on Saturday, May 15, last year.

He and a friend sat at a table occupied by Pawley’s wife and sister-in-law.

When Pawley, aged 35, of Duck Meadow, Warndon Villages, Worcester, returned to the table, he asked Mr Matthews why he was sitting there and told him to leave.

Mr Matthews told the court Pawley was “constantly abusive”and swore at at him.

“I had just sat in the wrong place,” said Mr Matthews, of Redfern Avenue, Worcester.

“As I got up to move, I tipped my glass as a gesture and accidentally tipped some of my drink on his head.

"I wish I hadn’t done it because of what happened next.”

Pawley picked up a pint glass and smashed it into Mr Matthews’ face, the court heard, leaving him needing stitches to the left side and to his nose.

He also had cuts to his chest. The two men fell to the floor in a scuffle and were separated.

“I was pouring with blood,” Mr Matthews said. “My nose was hanging off.

“I went out into a passage and saw my reflection and I was horrified.

“It had been a great day and this man had spoilt it. I couldn’t believe what had happened to me. I looked like something from a horror film.”

Mr Matthews went back and picked up a glass and threw it at the floor in the direction of Pawley. He admitted a charge of affray for the offence at an earlier hearing.

A statement from bar worker John Robinson said the glass had been swung in a kind of haymaker punch and the incident was “really scary.”

He said there were people shouting and he was worried it would turn into a major disorder.

“There was a pool of glass and blood on the floor,” he said.

Nicholas Berry, defending, suggested to Mr Matthews that he could have got up and left the table when he was asked to.

He also suggested Mr Matthews had been rude to Pawley while they were sitting at the table but Mr Matthews denied this.

The trial continues.