Man jailed after row about spilled drink

Dec 1 2011 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier

A MAN who threw pint glasses at two men he said spilled their drinks over him in a West Calder pub has been jailed.

Liam Collins was in the Commercial Inn when he picked up a glass from the bar and threw it over his shoulder at a couple of men standing at the fruit machine, hitting one of them on the back of the head.

Livingston Sheriff Court heard the other man confronted 21-year-old Collins, who became aggressive.

The man walked away and when he turned round Collins was facing him and he threw a pint glass towards him, which missed and smashed a few feet away.

At this point various people in the bar took hold of Collins and threw him out.

The court heard the man who was hit on the back of the head with the glass suffered from some swelling but declined medical attention.

Last week at the sheriff court Collins, whose address was given as Bathgate Road, Blackburn, pled guilty to the assault on November 6.

His solicitor, Kevin Dugan, told the court his client’s social work report was favourable in most aspects.

“He has acknowledged he has an anger management problem,” Mr Dugan said.

“The two victims had been there all night. They had been drinking and had spilled drink over him but he says he is ashamed of his behaviour.

“He has an insight into the difficulties and problems that he has.

“Collins accepts full responsibility for the way he behaved.

“He knows that drinking to excess has led him into committing offences in the past.

“Prior to this he had avoided going to the local pub to help him avoid alcohol.

“He trained as a game keeper and had a good work record in Perthshire and here.

“He deplored his actions on the night in question. He has breached a probation order, which was supposed to be of help to him, and he understands he is in a very difficult position.

“However, there are options available apart from a prison sentence for this young man.”

Jailing Collins for four months Sheriff Douglas Kinloch said: “The injury was minor, you don’t have many previous convictions and you have been assessed, perhaps wrongly in my mind, at a low to medium risk of causing future harm.

“So I wanted to think very carefully about the situation but what is clear to me is that you threw not one but two glass tumblers and if they had hit anyone on the face there was potential for very serious injury.

“I have come to the conclusion that these charges are so serious that they cannot be dealt with by way of an alternative to custody.”