A BOUNCER at Bromsgrove’s Love 2 Love nightclub needed 10 stitches to his face after being bottled by a teenager, but the doorman hit back, breaking his attacker's eye socket.

Lewis Simmons, of Cheltenham Road, Evesham, hit Ewen Weatherburn with a bottle he had been drinking from while outside the Worcester Road nightclub in August last year.

Simmons, 19, admitted a section 20 wounding and was jailed by Judge Nicolas Cartwright when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Friday (April 21).

Michael Conry, prosecuting, said Simmons had been out with his father and brother on Saturday, August 27, going into Sunday, August 28, when they tried to get into Love 2 Love.

The defendant's father had previously been banned from the club and the three of them were turned away at the door, only to return later, trying to gain admission.

Mr Weatherburn refused them entry, following instructions by the club owner, but Mr Simmons swore, demanding the owner come down, Mr Conry told the court.

He said: "Suddenly, out of nowhere, with a glass bottle he had been drinking from used as a weapon, he struck Mr Weatherburn on the head with sufficient force so that he was knocked to the floor. He was left with a deep laceration to the upper lip going into the nose."

The defendant, who had never been in trouble before, was then struck by Mr Weatherburn, breaking his eye socket.

Simmons was arrested and taken to hospital.

He told police officers he thought he was protecting his dad but admitted it was entirely his own fault, calling it 'a stupid mistake'.

Mr Weatherburn's injuries required six stitches to the outside and four to the inside of his mouth.

He suffered three damaged teeth, a severe headache, whiplash, extensive bleeding, damaged and infected gums, and a horseshoe-shaped scar which he said had affected his smile.

Amanda O'Mara, defending, said Simmons had called himself an ‘idiot’ after the incident.

The self-employed window-fitter now rarely drinks, and had pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity, she said.

Nicolas Cartwright, sentencing, said Simmons and his family were told in 'neutral' terms they could not enter the club, and that the defendant became 'animated' when he was turned away.

He said: "In anger or frustration or both, out of nowhere you used the glass bottle you were drinking from as a weapon and struck Mr Weatherburn to the face with it. It must have been aimed at his head or face. His teeth acted as an anvil because his lip was perforated.

"Immediately following your violence against him, you in turn were the subject of violence, resulting in a broken eye socket. It's some mitigation that you were injured in this way. Violence often does generate a violent response. It was you who started the violence.”

The use of a weapon, he said, made an immediate custodial sentence unavoidable.

Judge Cartwright ordered Simmons to be detained for 10 months in a young offenders institution. Half of his sentence will be served in custody and the other on licence. A victim surcharge will be calculated and applied administratively.