Bromsgrove man jailed for wine bottle attack on friend (From Bromsgrove Advertiser)

Bromsgrove man jailed for wine bottle attack on friend

2:57pm Monday 30th November 2009

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A BROMSGROVE man training to be a social worker has been put behind bars for a year for leaving a friend with a serious eye injury after he threw a wine bottle into his face.

Adam Sharps became angry and aggressive after Alex Young confessed he had developed feelings for his girlfriend Alice Barron, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

The 29-year-old burst into Young's room in the house they shared at Walsall and punched him about the face before hitting him with the bottle.

Mr Young suffered a fractured eye socket, a fractured cheekbone and he had to undergo surgery to insert two titanium plates near his eye which would remain with him for life.

Mr Howard Searle prosecuting said 27-year-old Mr Young - a friend of Sharps' for more than nine years - suffered double vision after the brutal attack and it would still be some considerable time before he made a full recovery.

In a victim impact statement Mr Young, a youth offending officer, said he had been unable to work after being hit with the bottle because he could not focus on his computer screen, he suffered eye strain and the left side of his face had been left numb.

Sharps of Swift Close, Bromsgrove - a man of positive good character - admitted wounding Mr Young and he was told by Judge Michael Challinor the harm he had caused was "significant and grave”."

He added, "Mr Young says his life has been on hold since the incident because of the difficulties he has had to encounter. I am told he will make a full recovery but that will take another six to eight months.

"He has had to suffer for a significant period of time and you caused that. He did not deserve what you did to him at all."

Mr Richard Hull, defending,said Sharps accepted he had caused a particularly grave injury to his friend and he was full of remorse for his actions.

He said he had acted out of all proportion adding that he was distraught about the level of the injury he caused, having reacted to the news that Mr Young had formed a relationship with Miss Barron.

Sharps, he went on, could now no longer pursue a career in social work because of the conviction and the resulting jail term.

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