A JOHNSTONE welder who used a metal bar to carry out a brutal attack in a pub has been jailed for 14 months.

Samuel Hannah had spent the day downing Drambuie with his wife before carrying out the assault, which left his innocent victim scarred for life.

Paisley Sheriff Court was told Hannah had been drinking at the Keystone pub, in Houstoun Square, Johnstone, on March 16 last year.

He then left, armed himself with the metal bar and headed back to the pub with the weapon stuffed up his sleeve.

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Hannah, of Dimity Street, then approached Ernest Craig, who was sitting at the bar drinking cider.

The conversation between the pair became heated and, after shouting at Mr Craig, Hannah stepped back and turned, hiding from his victim the act of pulling the metal bar from his sleeve.

He then struck Mr Craig so hard with the bar the pint glass he was holding smashed in his face.

Hannah then repeatedly struck his victim in the face and on the head.

The blows knocked Mr Craig unconscious and sent him crashing to the floor face-first, where he was left lying in a pool of blood.

The shocking attack was captured on CCTV and showed Mr Craig lying motionless on the floor of the pub before writhing in pain and struggling to stand once he regained consciousness.

Details of the attack first emerged last month when Hannah pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Craig, but a charge he had attacked another reveller who tried to disarm him was dropped.

Hannah, 60, returned to the dock yesterday to learn his fate.

Defence solicitor Rhona Lynch said he is a time-served welder who has worked for an oil firm for the past six years and also works weekends as a crane controller on the railways.

She added his wife would suffer if he was sent to jail, as she wouldn’t be able to afford their rent.

Ms Lynch told the court: “This was a very unfortunate and nasty incident. He behaved in a way that seems to be extremely out of character for him.

“He works very hard during the week and abstains from alcohol but, at the weekends, he takes a drink and sometimes has been in the habit of overindulging.

“He now has developed a problem of binge drinking, which has caused him to seek assistance. He is deeply ashamed and is genuinely remorseful.”

However, Sheriff McCartney caged Hannah for 14 months, reduced from 18 months as he had admitted his guilt.

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He told the accused: “I have thought carefully about the impact of a prison sentence, not only on you but also on your wife, and also that, at the age of 60, you have no previous convictions for violence.

“However, the severity of the assault – which appears to have been entirely unprovoked and premeditated  – causes me to conclude there is no alternative sentence to one of imprisonment.”