A row between two dads erupted into violence, with one man throwing a mug at the other man's chest. The second man then picked it up before smashing it into the first's face.
Joseph Ryan and his neighbour were still fighting out in the street in Mountsorrel Lane, Rothley, when Leicestershire Police arrived at the scene. Ryan, 25, who had two teeth knocked out in the fight, was later charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm for the slash to the other man's forehead.
Ryan denied the offence and the case went to trial, where he was found guilty by magistrates. He appeared back at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Monday (February 24) for sentencing.
READ MORE: Woman kicked and spat at police after domestic assault arrest
Prosecutor Ravinder Daroch said the victim had been verbally abused by Ryan when he was walking to the shop with his children earlier in the day in October 2023. She said: "The defendant was laughing at him and being rude and they had a small verbal argument and the victim continued to the shop."
She said later that day, when both men were back at home, the two men's partners began arguing and shouting at each other from the windows of their homes. The victim told Ryan to meet him outside to have a chat but then attacked Ryan.
Ms Daroch said: "The victim threw a mug towards the chest of the defendant. The defendant took the mug from the ground and used the mug to smash the victim in the face, which caused a cut. The victim smacked the defendant back in self-defence, causing him to fall and this scuffle continued while the police attended."
She read out a statement from the victim, written nine months after the incident, in which he said the injury had left him with a two-inch scar on his face. The statement said: "I've suffered severe headaches and been extremely forgetful, which I've never suffered from before."
Jabeen Naru, representing Ryan, said that at the time of the incident her client had been living with his partner and their three-year-old son in Mountsorrel Lane but that after the incident he had moved away to live with his grandmother.
She said: "This went to trial on the basis of self-defence. There was a scuffle between both of them and [the victim] was on Mr Ryan's property. Mr Ryan was chased by him around the vehicle that was on his drive.
"Mr Ryan was punched first. During the scuffle the mug has interacted with [the victim's] forehead." She said her client worked as a self-employed refrigeration engineer.
The chair of the bench, Jane Foster, told Ryan, of Northfields, Syston, told Ryan: "It wasn't just a minor injury and our starting point is 36 weeks in custody. We have taken into account the fact you have no previous convictions and there was a degree of provocation."
Ryan was given a 12-month community order with 280 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £650 court costs and a £114 victim surcharge.
