Watching football down a pub turned into a violent bottle-lobbing frenzy.
All fired up and set for the 2022 World Cup quarter-final clash between Croatia and Brazil, Martin Bowker booked a table his local in Manchester on December 9 2022.
As part of his booking, Bowker pre-ordered more than 20 bottles of lager and a bottle of vodka which were delivered to his table for the game, Manchester Crown Court heard.
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A punter out with with his fiancée and friend soon became a target of Bowker’s as bottles were hurled in his direction and made contact with horrendous results, Manchester Evening News reports.
Prosecuting barrister Ms Caitlin Stiles said: “The defendant then threw a beer bottle which hit [the victim] in his face and a gin bottle which then hit him on the nose. Three bottles were thrown consecutively, two striking the victim and another hitting a female he was with.”
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The two groups of friends then moved ‘towards each other’ with CCTV footage played in court showing a rammy kicking off just before the doorman removed Bowker. Medics confirmed the victim had sustained a ‘soft tissue injury’ and was told he had a ‘hairline fracture’ to his nose following the incident.
In an impact statement read out in court, the victim said: “The World Cup was on and I was out on a double date with my fiancée and our friends. We had been to the Christmas Markets and enjoying time together. We met friends in the Box bar and we were enjoying catching up.
“All I remember is chatting to my friend and seeing a half-full bottle coming towards me. The impact made my nose burst, and I felt blood. All I could think was, ‘Please don’t let my nose be broken’. The pain was unbearable. What on earth had happened for someone to want to throw this object? I still, to this day, don’t know why the bottles were thrown in my direction.”
The victim, who was left with black eyes, added: “I hated what I saw then I looked in the mirror. Both my eyes were bruised and I had concern that I would look awful on my wedding day. On Christmas Day I didn’t want to be in any photos with my family and didn’t want my grandparents to see me like this.”
Defending, Mr Robert Kearney said that Bowker had no previous relevant convictions and had sought counselling in the two years since the incident. The court heard that the case took almost two years to reach sentencing due to delays in CPS and police enquiries.
Bowker previously pleaded guilty to the charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray.
Sentencing him, Judge Patrick Field KC said: “This was an extraordinary incident of, if I may say, unprovoked, loutish and potentially very dangerous, violent behaviour. He certainly didn’t anticipate he would ended up with a bloodied nose having been struck by a large bottle.
“The reason why you behaved like this is hard to fathom, and it doesn’t appear that anybody has yet gotten to the bottom of it. This was a busy public place. Others were put in fear and at risk from what you did. You have said you are remorseful and ashamed, and you should be ashamed.”
Bowker was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, ordered to pay £700 in victim compensation and a £150 surcharge.
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