An offender who breached a restraining order and threw a beer bottle into a man’s eye has been locked up.

Christopher O’Flaherty, 29, carried out the assault in Gillingham in February and threw the bottle at the victim, who was trying to keep him away from a person he was harassing.

O'Flaherty, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to one count of assault and two counts of breach of restraining order at Maidstone Crown Court and was jailed for 18 months.

The court heard that at around midnight on February, 16, O’Flaherty attended the home of someone was banned from contacting due to a restraining order.

He became aggressive to two women who were attempting to keep him away from the property and, upon noticing the disturbance, a man intervened to prevent the women being harmed.

O’Flaherty then took a beer bottle out of his pocket and threw it into the face of this man, causing cuts just above and below his right eye.

He then got into a vehicle and drove away from the scene and was later arrested and charged with the offences.

DC Phil Pead, the investigating officer for this case, said: "O’Flaherty showed a flagrant disregard for a court order imposed against him and could have caused serious harm to an innocent victim as a result.

"When we first attended the scene there was serious concern the victim could have sustained permanent damage to his vision and it is down to good fortune that this was not the case.

"O’Flaherty has proven he presents a danger to innocent members of the public and the sentence he has received is entirely justified."