A student who glassed his friend after seeing red for no apparent reason has been spared prison.
Ben McDermott and friends were out in Whitley Bay when he suddenly swung the glass into the victim's face after he sat next to him.
A court heard the 21-year-old university undergraduate was immediately apologetic as blood dripped from his pal's face from a deep cut which has left him scarred.
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Now McDermott, of Bayswater Road, Jesmond, Newcastle, has been given a suspended prison sentence at Newcastle Crown Court after he admitted unlawful wounding.
The court heard it was on May 1 last year that the two men and others were out socialising in Whitley Bay and ended up in a beer garden at The Brewery pub.
At one point the victim, who had only had two or three drinks and was sober, got up to go to the toilet and when he returned he interposed himself in a small gap between McDermott and someone else.
He leaned over the table to get a bottle of wine then was attacked.
Michael Bunch, prosecuting, said: "Without warning the defendant swung a glass towards the complainant, hitting him in the face on the left side just below his lip.
"He felt numbness and was in complete shock to see blood pouring from his mouth."
He went to the toilet to try to stop the bleeding and drunken McDermott followed him, saying: "I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did it, I just saw red."
When the victim was taken to hospital, his attacker insisted on going with him and again apologised, saying: "I seen you sitting next to her and just saw red".
The victim had a "full thickness" cut which needed internal and external stitches.
He said in a victim impact statement that the injury left him feeling self-conscious that people were looking at him and making judgements about the kind of person he is, particularly as he has a public-facing job.
McDermott, who has no previous conviction, was sentenced to a 12 month suspended sentence with 150 hours of unpaid work.
Paul Caulfield, defending, said: "This is a sad case because it involves two really good friends, they had been close friends for a significant period.
"The events of that fateful night will be with the defendant for the rest of his life.
"He is determined he will not re-offend.
"He is in the final year of university in this city and he wants to advance a potential career in sport and he coaches young children.
"He has done everything he can to put right the wrong he did on that night."
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