Drunk glassing at the Links Hotel leads to three years jail

A drunken thug will spend at least two years in jail after a brutal pub attack left a man with permanent eye damage.

Matthew Clark was sentenced in the District Court on Monday after pleading guilty to a charge of recklessly causing serious harm.

The glassing incident the Links Hotel in Seaton during a UFC event happened in February 2021.

29-year-old Clark had been drinking since 10am. On the evening of the event, he saw the victim slap one of his friends in the back of the head.

The slap was described during sentencing submissions as a “pull your head in” gesture.

Clark moved around a table in the outdoor drinking area and shifted the glass he was holding to his dominant hand, before shattering the pint glass against the victim’s face, leading the victim’s eyelid being severed and optical nerve being damaged.

The incident was caught on security camera.

A fight then broke out between Clark’s and the victim’s friends.

Clark was arrested a short time later.

The event was described as “testosterone fuelled” and a “recipe for disaster” for the drink Clark.

“It was full of men becoming agitated and spoiling for a fight,” Judge Paul Muscat said during sentencing.

The victim required eye surgery and has been left with significant facial scars.

“His life has changed forever,” Judge Muscat said.

Clark is renowned for offences of drunken violence, having assaulted two constructions workers at the Royal Adelaide Hospital site in 2016 when one refused to give him a cigarette lighter.

Clark was sentenced to two years jail with a 12-month non-parole period.

Part of the sentence was suspended based on his young age, meaning that he may only serve two years of the three year sentence.

Jonathan Jackson - 14-12-22