A lorry driver hit a man in the face with a glass bowl when an argument started after a funeral.
Mark Hodge had watched the man and another mourner become increasingly drunk as the day wore on, and eventually stepped in to intervene when they began to argue.
But when one of the angry men came for him, he swung out with a glass bowl, hitting him in the face and leaving him permanently scarred.
Hodge, 51, appeared for sentencing at Tain Sheriff Court having previously pled guilty to a charge of assault to injury and permanent disfigurement under provocation.
Fiscal depute Robyn Macleod said that on July 6 last year Hodge was at the home of a friend in Lewes Lane, Tain, where people were drinking and socialising.
Other people at the house got drunk and began to wind each other up. One of them damaged an electric box, interfering with the electricity supply to the home and Hodge struck him and told him to leave.
The man left, but returned a short time later.
“At this time the accused picked up a glass cereal bowl from the floor and chucked it at the witness,” Ms Macleod said.
The court heard that the man was left with a scar.
Pair got into argument after funeral
Solicitor Rory Gowans, for Hodge, of Murray Road, Invergordon, said the incident had occurred when a group had gathered following a funeral.
He added that his client, a lorry driver, had had only two drinks and had not been drinking to excess.
He said that Hodge had been in the company of the complainer and his uncle over the course of the evening when a “fairly abusive and escalating exchange” occurred and he interjected.
Man charged at attacker
He said that when the man returned to the darkened home Hodge heard him “charging at him” and it was at this point he grabbed the glass bowl and swung it, catching the other man on the chin.
“He accepts his culpability,” he said.
Sheriff Gary Aitken said: “As I am sure you appreciate yourself, this is a significant charge.”
He added that he was willing to deal with it by way of a financial penalty given Hodge’s “lack of record for violent offending”.
He fined Hodge £760.
