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AN estate agent hit a man on the head with a wine glass in an unprovoked attack in a pub, a court has heard.

The victim needed six stitches in the wound following what a judge called a “vicious glassing”.

Swansea Crown Court heard the victim - a 20-year-old man - was at the bar of the Rock and Fountain pub in Skewen on the evening of January 18 having a drink with a friend.

Ashanti-Jade Walton, prosecuting, said at around 10.20pm the man felt someone pulling at his jumper from behind - he turned around and saw the defendant, though he did not know who she was.

The victim turned back to talk to his friend then felt a “blow” to the back of his head, and liquid on his back.

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The prosecutor said witnesses in the pub described how Sarah Hannah Louise Brown had hit the man twice with a wine glass.

The victim was taken to Morriston Hospital A&E by his father, and needed six stitches in a V-shaped wound to the side of his head.

In a subsequent victim impact statement he said the incident had left him “feeling like I am always looking over my shoulder” and worried he would be attacked again.

He said he was having difficult sleeping and kept replaying the incident over and over in his head.

Brown, aged 27, of Heol Penderyn, Longford, Neath , had previously pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm (GBH) and to possessing an offensive weapon - the glass - when she appeared in the dock for sentencing.

The court heard she had no previous convictions, but did have a caution for battery from 2014.

John Hipkin, for Brown, said his client had anger management and alcohol abuse issues, which she now recognised needed to be addressed.

He said Brown was a successful and hard-working woman, and what had happened was “unbelievable”, adding: “She has no explanation for what happened other than the alcohol.”

Judge Paul Thomas QC told Brown she had caused her victim a very unpleasant injury.

He said: “This was a vicious, unprovoked glassing of a stranger in a pub.

“To hit anyone with a glass is a serious offence because of the damage it can do, and always crosses the custody threshold.”

The judge added that if she had caught her victim in the face with the glass she would be starting a very long prison sentence.

For the GBH Brown was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course focusing on her alcohol and anger issues, and to do 240 hours of unpaid work.

No separate penalty was imposed for the offensive weapon charge, the judge saying that offence was implicit in the wounding charge.

Brown must also pay her victim £2,000 compensation.