A man glassed a workmate in the head on a night out and then sent him a string of apologetic text messages.
Daniel McEleny’s colleague was left with a cut to his ear that required surgery following the assault at an Inverness pub.
Afterwards he received texts from his attacker saying: “I’m so sorry”, “I have a short fuse” and “I’m such an idiot”.
McEleny, 27, appeared for sentencing at Inverness Sheriff Court having previously admitted a charge of assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Fiscal depute Emma MacEwan told the court the incident had taken place around 11pm on February 12 of last year.
She explained that McEleny and his victim were around a pool table in The Chieftain Hotel, Inverness, when “a scuffle broke out”.
The pair were separated but shortly after the man entered a smoking area where he encountered McEleny, who hit him on the left side of his head with a glass.
He was taken to hospital where it was discovered that he had suffered a laceration from the upper part of his left ear, down through the cartilage and involving the lobe.
“He was kept in overnight and has undergone surgery the following day,” Ms MacEwan said.
Following the incident McEleny sent the man a number of text messages in which he apologised and offered to compensate his victim.
‘I have a short fuse’
He wrote: “I’m so sorry” … “I have a short fuse” … “I can’t remember why we were fighting” … “I hope you are ok and it heals fast” … ” I thought we were great mates” and “I’m such an idiot”.
Solicitor Shahid Latif, for McEleny, told the court: “They were work colleagues on a night out. Too much alcohol had been taken.
“It was some kind of disagreement. There was a spontaneous response to the disagreement but the accused was holding something in his hand.”
He said that immediately after the assault McEleny had been upset and had hugged his victim.
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald told McEleny, of Ardbreck Place, Inverness: “You have previous convictions for assault. You had now pled guilty to smashing somebody over the head with a glass in a pub
“This is an escalation in violence – I could quite easily send you to jail for this.”
Instead, she placed McEleny on a community payback order requiring him to complete 165 hours of unpaid work.
But it came with a warning: “If you don’t amend your behaviour and stop behaving like this you are going to end up in jail.”