Dronfield thug left another man with sight loss after he smashed a pint glass into his face

Adam Wright had been out drinking with friends at the Victoria Inn, in Stubly Lane, in the town on February 1 last year when the incident occurred, Derby Crown Court heard on Thursday, January 21.

Wright had drunk around 10 pints of lager over the course of the evening and first tipped a drink over the man’s back, although matters didn’t escalate until closing time, the court heard.

The other man then retaliated, throwing alcohol at Wright, but it wasn’t until closing time that things turned really nasty.

CCTV footage played to the court showed Wright, 27, of Princess Road, Dronfield, follow the man off the premises and smash the glass into his face, causing him damage to his left eye from which he may never recover, the court heard.

Prosecuting, Julia King said: “There were no problems until the defendant threw the contents of his drink over the victim’s back and he retaliated by pouring the remains of his drink on the defendant.

“At around 11.30pm he walked away from the pub and the defendant followed him and again threw the contents of his drink over him. The other man pushed him, and his response was to hit the victim in the face with his glass and it smashed on impact. He felt excruciating pain and had glass in his eye.”

She said the injured party was in hospital for three days and had to have several operations following the incident and still had limited vision in his left eye, and added that he may never fully recover his vision and could even lose the sight from his other eye as a knock-on effect of the attack.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the man said that he had been unable to complete his apprenticeship as a result of his injuries, and had been told to stop all physical exercise for fear of the damage pressure building up in his eye could cause.

Wright had first appeared before Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court on October 16 last year, but the offence was deemed so serious that the case was sent to the crown court to be sentenced.

Mitigating, Denney Lau said that Wright was of previous good character and, if he was sent to prison, it could leave his pregnant partner and step-son homeless.

He said: “He’s aware that this is a serious matter and he’s aware that he may go into custody today.

“He kept saying that he wished he could remember, and that it is something that he will regret for the rest of his life.”

Sentencing Wright to 14 months in prison, Recorder Stuart Sprawson told him: “You had a glass which you had taken from inside the public house and you can’t even remember the events of that night.

“You used that glass to push it into his eye and you were stopped by someone else and you were punched. You were described as being cocky and smirking.

“It is unlikely that this man will ever fully recover from what you have done to him.”

Wright must also pay a £149 victim surcharge when he is released from prison.

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