THE fighting instinct of an Iraq war veteran might have been why he smashed a beer glass on a pub landlord's head, a court heard.

Luke Stacey, 20, narrowly escaped a prison sentence, having earlier pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm.

Prosecutor Iain Ross told Dorchester Crown Court that the landlord of the Damory Oak in Blandford, Robert Barber, was outside his pub trying to calm down an altercation between fighting customers.

Stacey, of St Peter's Close, Pimperne, had come out and bludgeoned Mr Barber on the back of the head.

The landlord was staggering, bleeding profusely and dazed from the shock and had to be rushed to hospital where a deep cut was stitched, Mr Ross said.

The victim could not eat properly for a time because of loose teeth and numbness, he added.

Defending, David Campbell said his client had been out of the Army for just two weeks as a result of cutbacks but had already found an apprenticeship in a steel fabrication firm at Sturminster Newton.

He had served two tours in Iraq and his brother was still out there, Mr Campbell added.

Stacey had intervened in the row because he thought a friend was under threat.

"Perhaps because of the training to assist colleagues his instinct kicked in," he said.

The incident was totally out of character, his client had handed himself in to police the next day and had shed many tears of remorse, the court heard.

"He displays strength of character and such clean hands - he is not the usual common or garden thug," added Mr Campbell.

Mr Recorder Michael Tennant said the offence definitely passed the custody threshold but said he would take an exceptional course in Stacey's case.

The defendant was ordered to pay Mr Barber £1,200 in compensation, to complete 100 hours of a community punishment order and sentenced to 12 months' community rehabilitation.

First published: November 15