A THUG with a long history of violence who battered a man with a bottle at an Alexandria flat has been jailed for more than two years.

Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard that Gerard Brown’s record of assaults stretched back 20 years and included the use of knives, machetes and an axe.

A sheriff told the 42-year-old that the jail sentence would have been even longer if prosecutors hadn’t accepted that he acted under provocation.

Brown appeared in court on Friday after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to repeatedly striking his victim on the body, to his injury and permanent disfigurement, at a Halkett Crescent property on April 9.

He was brought to court in handcuffs after being remanded in custody following a plea on August 16 to a charge of assault.

Brown’s solicitor, Stephen McGuire, said there was very little detail available about the nature of the attack because of a lack of co-operation on the part of the victim - who, he said, had himself been sentenced for his part in the incident, at which at least two other men were present.

Mr McGuire told Sheriff Maxwell Hendry: “Your Lordship is aware of the type of individual Mr Brown was dealing with.

“He had no idea who he was dealing with when he invited the complainer to his flat.

“All the individuals present were under the influence.

“Mr Brown was concerned at the aggressive behaviour of the complainer; he asked him to leave, but the complainer refused.

“Ultimately the request resulted in an altercation, during which Mr Brown also received certain physical injuries.

“A bottle was used to strike him on the hand; the bottle smashed, and then Mr Brown used it to inflict the injuries referred to.

“He accepts his actions went beyond self-defence, but he was provoked by a violent individual who attacked him.”

Mr McGuire admitted that 42-year-old Brown was still subject to a ‘supervised release order’ following a previous prison sentence, on the day the attack happened - and Sheriff Hendry then pointed out that Brown also had an unexpired nine-month portion of that jail sentence hanging over him when he carried out the assault.

“I would ask that the sentence be restricted as far as possible,” Mr McGuire added, “albeit that his record identifies him as a potentially violent individual.”

The sheriff replied: “Potentially? I would say ‘actually’.

“He has been assaulting people for more than 20 years. He was sentenced to eight years for assault and robbery, he has a record of offences involving knives, a machete and an air rifle, and most recently he has a solemn matter involving an axe.”

Sheriff Hendry told Brown: “Your record is horrendous, and speaks to you being a man who resorts to violence without thought as to the consequences.

Brown was told he would serve 20 months behind bars, plus six of the nine months on his ‘unexpired portion’.