A VIOLENT thug left a householder with very serious cuts and permanent scarring after viciously "glassing" him in the face with a broken bottle during a savage attack.
Two other troublemakers also set upon the victim in the street after he went out to confront them when they goaded his dog by making barking noises during a late-night disturbance, a court heard.
Paul Sleeth, 22, of Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes, and Drew Richardson, 21, of Park Street, Cleethorpes, admitted wounding Stewart Finning with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on December 19.
Craig Lowe, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that Sleeth, Richardson and another man were passing Mr Finning's garden in Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes, at about 11.50pm when they started goading his dog by making barking noises.
Mr Finning followed them and told them to keep the noise down. There was an argument and the three men circled around him. Sleeth wielded a smashed bottle that he had picked up and Mr Finning backed away. Sleeth lunged towards him twice, "glassing" him in the face and causing very deep cuts on his nose and cheek. He fell to the ground and curled up to defend himself but the men repeatedly kicked him.
He was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary for an operation for fractured nose bones. The deep cuts were so serious that he would be left permanently scarred.
The third attacker had not been caught, said Mr Lowe.
Sleeth also admitted intimidating a witness, Brett Vinson, during a separate incident on October 12. He had previously been given an antisocial behaviour order.
Simon Hirst, mitigating, said Sleeth was remorseful for what he had done. He had convictions for violence and dishonesty but was not usually a violent man.
"What happened was a wholly disgraceful incident," said Mr Hirst.
Sleeth had suffered the deaths of two friends and began drinking and taking cocaine and M-Cat.
Charlotte Baines, representing Richardson, said both men had been in custody for about four-and-a-half months.
Richardson had shown some concern for the victim's welfare after the attack by telling police: "Is that man all right? What we did to him wasn't fair and shouldn't have happened."
He admitted kicking Mr Finning but it was Sleeth who attacked him with the bottle. He had a conviction for violence.
Richardson began drinking heavily every day after his four-year-old son died in a road accident.
"His drinking got out of control as he was struggling to cope with the grief," said Miss Baines.
Sleeth was jailed for six years and Richardson was locked up for four years and three months.
Judge Mark Bury told them: "What happened was totally outrageous. The injuries are extremely serious. This was an attack in public at night where there was a weapon used. There were three people on to one.
"It was a frightful state Mr Finning was left in at the hands of the pair of you. No other sentence can be justified other than an immediate substantial one."
