A BRICKLAYER who “smashed” his glass on the head of another drinker without provocation must pay the victim £1,000 compensation, a judge ordered.

Bashir Ahmed, prosecuting, said doctors had to pick shards of glass out of cuts in Philip Hodson's face after the incident in BPM on Rougier Street on November 13.

First Thomas Stephen Whitaker grabbed Mr Hodson by the throat and then, after Mr Hodson walked away, Whitaker approached him again and shoved a pint glass into his face. Neither man knew the other and Mr Hodson, who was not drunk, did not provoke the attacks in any way.

“I am quite certain that this violent behaviour is linked to the amount of drink you consumed,” said Judge Jim Spencer QC to Whitaker at York Crown Court. “You must learn sooner rather than later that to drink yourself into a stupor can only get you into serious trouble.”

He said one witness described Whitaker as “smashing” the glass on Mr Hodson's head.

Whitaker, 20, of Main Street, Whenby, a village north-east of York, pleaded guilty to wounding. In addition to £1,000 compensation, he must also do 200 hours' unpaid work and pay £433 prosecution costs.

His defence team did not give any mitigation after the judge announced that he would not jail him.

In a victim impact statement read to the judge, Mr Hodson said the attack had left him frightened of going into pubs because he feared he would be attacked again without warning. Also he didn't know how to respond to violence in future because he had been attacked after he had tried to calm the situation down.

Whitaker later told police he had been so drunk he couldn't remember what he had done and he had been drinking before he went into BPM. He said he would not have “glassed” someone for no reason.

Mr Ahmed said Mr Hodson suffered cuts to his face and nose and a bump on his head. He had had one or two drinks before the attack and had been on a stag night at the time.