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Thug hurled bottle in chip shop attack

A reveller threw a glass bottle at another man outside a fish and chip shop after drinking 'copious' amounts of alcohol, a court heard.

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Jason Chambers, of Blackheath, was upset after his brother was thrown out of the busy shop for jumping the queue.

The 25-year-old, of Ragley Walk, who had been standing outside, forced his way to the front of the queue before throwing a bottle towards the doorway hitting victim Tobias Matthews as he walked out of the shop.

Chambers pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Matthews causing actual bodily harm and received a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to pay the victim £500 compensation after Mr Matthews was wounded.

Prosecutor Mr Patrick Sullivan told Warwick Crown Court the incident took place outside the Leamington Fish Bar in Tavistock Street, Leamington, at 2.45am on October 4 last year.

The Fish Bar had its own security staff and, with people having left nearby nightclubs, it was busy at that time of night.

After his brother was thrown out, Chambers, could be seen on a CCTV recording holding a bottle as he pushed his way through a group of people to get to the doorway.

Then he threw the bottle towards the doorway just as Mr Matthews was coming out with his food.

He walked straight into the path of the bottle which appeared to strike his head, causing a 2cm wound which had to be glued by medics.

Mr Sullivan told the court Chambers, who was later identified by witnesses, had previous convictions for assault.

He added that Chambers had entered his plea on the basis that the bottle did not hit Mr Matthews directly, but that it hit a wall and broke, and a shard of glass then hit his head.

Mr Simon Williams, defending, said: "On the day in question the defendant had attended a family wedding, and at the conclusion he decided to go to a night.

"It is quite clear to see that the real cause of this offence was the fact that he had consumed alcohol. He accepts he was wrong for throwing the bottle," added Mr Williams.

Sentencing Chambers, Recorder Martin Hurst ordered him to ordered him to also do 175 hours of unpaid work and pay £240 costs.

He said: "You're incredibly lucky to be charged only with actual bodily harm, because if that bottle had caused more serious injury, as bottles often do, you would have been looking at a sentence of six years."

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