A THUG who left a Dalmuir man badly hurt and permanently scarred after throwing a bottle at his head has been ordered to pay his victim £1,000 in compensation.

Conor Robertson carried out the vicious attack at a flat at The Crescent on March 20 last year.

Robertson, of Balbeggie Street in Glasgow, appeared for sentencing at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Friday after being found guilty by a jury of a charge of assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

Friday’s sentencing hearing - held after a background report on Robertson was provided by social workers - was told that the trial jury had not believed the 22-year-old’s claim that he had been acting in self-defence.

Sheriff William Gallacher noted: “People were in the house, there was an ongoing issue, and a bottle was thrown at the complainer, causing him an injury which was bleeding profusely and required underlying stitches.”

The sheriff told defence lawyer Kevin McCarron: “Your client’s position was that the complainer had a knife, but that was not supported by other evidence, and it was rejected by the jury.

“The [social work] report is not good, the charge is not good, and he was granted bail in the January for a matter involving possession of a weapon – and this offence occurred in the March.

“In that context I find it hard to see how I can avoid sending him to custody for a significant period.”

Asking for an alternative to custody to be imposed, Mr McCarron said: “To this day he maintains the position he adopted at the trial.

“He was previously subject to an unpaid work requirement, and there is a reference in the social work report to how he went over and above the requirements in relation to the order that was imposed.

“He carried out the hours with a charity; he completed the order in a short time, and went back to the charity thereafter to lend assistance.

“He’s obviously not a complete waste of time, but to get involved at all in this incident, at a time when he had been put on trust by the court, does not reflect well on him.

“This is his first conviction for violence, and he has never been in custody before.”

Sheriff Gallacher told Robertson: “You utilised a bottle which you propelled at somebody, causing significant injury and leaving him with a scar – and you allowed yourself to do that while you were subject to a position of trust where you had been involved in the possession of a weapon.

“You have shown some willingness to co-operate with the community, and you have not previously served a custodial sentence, so I am persuaded, by a very close call, that I can deal with this in a way that stretches the alternatives to custody to the limit.”

Robertson was handed a community payback order (CPO) under which he will be supervised by social workers for 12 months.

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He was also told to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work – the maximum allowed under the law – by June of next year, and to pay his victim £1,000 in compensation, at a rate of £25 a week.

Robertson’s CPO progress will be reviewed on November 13.

And the sheriff warned him: “If I get a report that says you’re not complying, I will revoke the order and I’ll send you to prison.”