Jail for IT worker who stubbed a lit cigarette out on disabled friend's eye in pub attack

HE WAS LUCKY THAT VICTIM WASN'T BLINDED, SAYS JUDGE

- By MARTIN NAYLOR

A MAN was told he was “lucky he didn’t blind” a disabled friend when he deliberately stubbed a cigarette out in his eye before pulling him to the ground.

CCTV showed Nottinghamshire County Council IT technician David Brown lunging towards his victim, who was trying to get out of a mobility scooter, when the 40-year-old assaulted him.

The defendant, who had been drinking, took the case to trial, claiming he thought the longstanding friend was about to produce a knife from his pocket.

But the jury at Nottingham Crown Court rejected his version of events and found him guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Jailing him for four-and-a-half years, Judge Robert Egbuna said: “As is shown on the CCTV, you got a lit cigarette and deliberately targeted his right eye and put that cigarette into it.