A man who thrust a broken bottle between his victim’s eyes in a horror attack that he later admitted to via Snapchat has been jailed for more than three-and-a-half years.
Robert Fleming carried out the attack on Connor Henderson at a house party in Dundee’s Brown Constable Street.
He drove a smashed vodka bottle between his victim’s eyes – leaving a massive gash starting at the corner of one eye and carrying on across to the side of the other.
Fleming then used the makeshift weapon to repeatedly lash out at Mr Henderson – leaving enormous cuts on his arms, including one that cut through 70 percent of a bicep muscle and another on his hand that was down to the bone.
A sheriff told Fleming he must have come within “millimetres” of blinding Mr Henderson in both eyes.
Fiscal depute Charmaine Gilmartin told Dundee Sheriff Court that immediately after the attack, in the close of a block of flats, Mr Henderson had shouted for help – with occupants finding him with blood “spurting” from beside his eye.
Mrs Gilmartin said: “He was screaming in pain. The witness tried to assist but the complainer slipped and fell down the stairs.
“He had significant injuries to his arm and face. The complainer told police he didn’t know what had happened to him.
“But the accused sent a Snapchat message admitting responsibility for the assault.
“The complainer required a three hour operation on his injuries. He will be left with permanent scarring at all the injury sites.
“These injuries were consistent with him being struck by glass a number of times.”
Fleming, 23, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of assaulting Connor Henderson to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement at an address in Brown Constable Street, Dundee, on August 11 this year.
Defence solicitor Douglas McConnell said: “His position is that he was punched first, but this was not self defence. There is little excuse for what happened after that.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown jailed Fleming for three years and five months for the bottle attack to be served consecutively to 100 days of an unexpired earlier sentence.
He said: “You used a broken bottle to strike this man several times.
“In particular, you struck him between the eyes. You must have driven the bottle straight at the centre of his face.
“He was fortunate not to be blinded in both eyes.”
