Man found guilty of Market Drayton pub glass attack
A 42-year-old former pub landlord has been found guilty of striking another man in the face with a glass at a Christmas party night at a Market Drayton pub which left the victim scarred for life.
Jonathan Taylor was convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm following a short trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
Yesterday Judge Robin Onions adjourned sentence until Friday and Taylor, of The Croft, Market Drayton, was allowed conditional bail.
He had denied the charge of wounding Daniel Wood who was glassed in the face at the Sambrook Vaults in Shropshire Street, on December 20 last year.
Giving evidence yesterday Taylor had claimed he had acted in self-defence having believed he was about to be attacked by Mr Wood and had thrown a punch at him.
"I feared he was going to strike me. It was a split-second decision and I was not thinking about having the glass in my hand," he told the jury.
"I did not intend to hit him with the glass, but just punch him before he punched me."
Taylor said he was upset about the injuries inflicted on Mr Wood and described it as a "mistake".
He accepted he had drunk eight pints of lager and a Southern Comfort but said he was "merry" and denied he had "gone over the top" because he was drunk.
Much of the incident was captured on the crowded pub's CCTV camera and the footage showed Mr Wood being struck and knocked over a table was shown to the jury.
Mr Wood, 27, who has been left with a large scar on his left cheek, had said that he had been drunk having been to a work Christmas party at Bletchley near Tern Hill.
He said he and some friends later went to the Sambrook Vaults, but said he remembered little about the incident. I remember my head going back and being dragged out of the pub and next thing I was in the ambulance going to hospital," he said.
