Club doorman from Burghfield Common jailed for nightclub attack
Twenty-one-year-old Andrew Kerr collapsed, weeping, in the dock at Reading Crown Court when told he was going to prison, crying out: “I love you, Mum.”
The court heard that his victim, 41-year-old Sean Foster, was left scarred by the attack.
Jonathan Stone, prosecuting, said Kerr was on a night off and had been drinking heavily before ending up at the Deja Vu club bar in Reading where he worked.
Mr Foster, meanwhile, had been drinking with colleagues in Newbury before heading off with his friend Robert Engelshus to the same destination as Kerr, the judge was told.
Footage from the bar's CCTV showed Mr Engelshus trying to get into the bar shortly after 4am on March 7 this year, but being rejected by door staff.
As they put him down on the floor, Mr Foster could be seen grabbing one of the doormen's arms.
When he did so, Kerr came out of the bar, despite being pushed back once by staff and attacked Mr Foster by slamming a plastic glass into his head, said Mr Stone.
He added: "The next thing (Mr Foster) remembers is a big commotion outside, with the emergency services beside him and blood all over him."
Kerr was later arrested near his Granby Road home in Burghfield Common.
Mr Stone said Mr Foster had suffered from headaches and had trouble concentrating since the attack.
He added that because Mr Foster had a senior position in the Newbury firm for which he worked, he was worried about the effect his scar would have on colleagues and customers.
Kerr admitted one offence of wounding.
Giuseppina Silvio , defending, said: "He was a bouncer at the time and he certainly should have known better. He hadn't realised he had a (plastic) glass in his hand until he saw the CCTV. He went to what he believed to be the assistance of the bouncers.”
She added that her client did not usually drink and said the conviction had shattered his dreams of following in his police sergeant father’s footsteps.
Jailing Kerr for 16 months, Judge Stephen John told him: "You were so drunk you could hardly stand up. The simple fact is you armed yourself with a plastic glass and you went out. CCTV shows you being pushed inside, with that glass still in your hand, by the door staff.
"Undeterred, you went back out and struck the victim, aged nearly 42 years, not once but twice. His injuries were very unpleasant."
He added: "You must understand, from the nature of the work you did and the kind of family in which you were brought up, that this kind of behaviour is not tolerable."