A CLYDEBANK man left his partner badly injured when he hit him across the face with a plate – leaving part of his nose hanging off.

The victim of Brian Campbell’s attack was left permanently disfigured after he was struck in the “catastrophic” incident last year.

Campbell immediately phoned an ambulance following the incident at his home in McCreery Street on May 23, 2018, reports our sister title The Clydebank Post.

The 40-year-old was sentenced at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Friday, having pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a charge of assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

Campbell’s lawyer said his client was “immediately remorseful” after seeing the effect of his attack - though it emerged in court that Campbell had not pleaded guilty to the charge until the case called for trial for a second time.

The court was told the couple’s eight-year relationship had ended after the assault.

Meghan Glancey, prosecuting, said: “The accused and complainer consumed a bottle of vodka between 11am and 4pm, when the complainer fell asleep.

“On waking up at around 4.30pm they began to argue. The accused entered the living room holding a plate and thereafter struck the complainer to the face with it.

“The complainer’s nose appeared to be partially detached from his face. On seeing this the accused was instantly remorseful and phoned an ambulance, which attended, as did police.

“On being asked what had happened, the accused said ‘I hit him with a plate, we had a tiff’.

“The accused was interviewed by police and spoke freely throughout, giving an explanation that they were ‘nipping’ at each other and he lost his temper.”

Tom Brown, defending, said the victim of the assault, according to a doctor, would “almost certainly” suffer some form of nasal impairment for the rest of his life.

Mr Brown said: “Mr Campbell accepts he lost his temper. As the Crown has said, he was immediately remorseful and then tended to the victim.”

Sheriff William Gallacher pointed out that Campbell had not tendered a guilty plea until the second trial diet - after the case was reduced from a “solemn” one to a less serious “summary” matter by the Crown.

The sheriff observed: “It was blindingly obvious his hand was on the other end of the plate.”

Mr Brown said his client had “found it difficult to accept” that he had carried out the assault, as he had never been in any kind of trouble before.

“Clearly it is a serious matter,” Mr Brown continued, “and one in which the court would consider a custodial sentence, but I would suggest it can be dealt with without that.

“The relationship is now over, and there is no contact between the parties at all.”

Sheriff Gallacher told Campbell: “The offence to which you eventually pleaded guilty – and in my view you ought to have been able to shoulder your responsibility much earlier – was one which caused very significant injury.

“I accept the background, that this was not pre-planned, and there was no intention to cause such injuries.

“But as a matter of fact, the injury was utterly catastrophic. Not only is there disfigurement, but there is some impact on the complainer’s general condition of life.

“Notwithstanding the brevity of the incident, the level of violence and the catastrophic outcome puts this matter on the very cusp of custody.

“But I am just persuaded I can avoid that.”

Campbell was ordered to carry out 280 hours of unpaid work - just 20 short of the maximum, in view of his guilty plea - within nine months.

He will also be supervised by social workers until August 2020.