A BONHILL man who threw his girlfriend into the road after hitting over the head with a bag containing half a dozen cans of lager following a Hogmanay party has been given a further chance to comply with his community-based punishment – but he'll have to keep his nose clean over Christmas and New Year to do so.

Redburn resident John Curley, 21, was hit with the maximum unpaid work punishment of 300 hours for the violent attack – and was warned that he faced a lengthy prison sentence if he did not comply "to the letter" with his community-based sentence.

A hearing at Dumbarton Sheriff Court in August was told that the incident had happened after Curley left a party at around 11.30pm on December 31, and was followed shortly afterwards by his girlfriend.

When she reached him, he grabbed a plastic bag she was carrying, containing six cans of lager, and swung it to the left side of her head, causing her to stumble and fall backwards.

He then ran away and his girlfriend followed him – but when she caught up, he lifted her up and threw her into the road, where she fell, hitting her head on the ground.

At August's hearing, Sheriff Simon Pender had said his immediate inclination was to jail Curley for what he called "a horrendous incident" – but instead he was placed under social workers' supervision for 18 months and told to do 300 hours' unpaid work by August 2019.

Curley left court that day with a warning from the sheriff, who said: “If you come back before me having not complied to the letter, then a custodial sentence, and a significant one, is what you will get.”

At a review hearing of Curley's community payback order (CPO), held at the same court on Wednesday, November 21, his solicitor, Lauren Kerr, said: "He has been doing well. My suggestion is for the court to continue the order."

Sheriff Pender set a further CPO review hearing for January 9; Curley was ordained to appear.