AN ALLOA man who bottled a fellow reveller at Christmastime has been order to pay his victim £1000 in compensation.

James Syme left the 26-year-old with a two-inch cut on his forehead in an "unprovoked" attacking him in the Old Brewery last year.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard the incident came about after the accusde's attempts to dance with a woman there were rebuffed.

However, some time later Syme, 30, approached complainer in the venue and spoke to him about this – leaving him "nonplussed".

Prosecutor Ruaraidh Ferguson said: "It confused the complainer as he'd had nothing to do with it."

Syme then seized him by the throat and struck him on the head with the bottle he had in his hand.

As the man began to bleed profusely and police were called, Syme fled the premises.

He was arrested nearby and admitted what he had done in what was later described as a "moment of madness".

Syme's victim was taken to hospital where he received four stitches for the wound.

Defence agent Greg Cunningham told the court last Thursday that his client was "deeply remorseful" after pleading guilty to a charge of assault to injury and permanent disfigurement.

The lawyer added: "He says he ruined Christmas for this man and his family."

Mr Cunningham said Syme had been out with friends on Christmas Eve and had been consuming alcohol without recognising his limits.

He said Syme's reasons for becoming involved in the incident were set out in a social enquiry report before the court.

He said: "There's been an explanation given as to the misapprehension of a situation involving his brother.

"It was a moment of madness under the influence of significant quantities of alcohol by a man who otherwise lives a very ordinary life.

"Drink sat comfortably in his hand that night, so that at the point when he approached the complainer he had the bottle already.

"He didn't arm himself with a weapon when he made the split-second decision to strike this man."

Sheriff Craig Caldwell placed Syme under social work supervision for a year and ordered him to carry out 180 hours of community service, as well as imposing the £1000 compensation order.

He also made him subject to a tagging order, with a three month 7pm to 6am curfew.

He said Syme, of Hawkhill Road, had been guilty of an "unprovoked serious assault".