A THUG who left a man permanently disfigured after a vicious attack outside Dumbarton's JobCentre has been jailed for two and a half years.

Steven Palmer appeared for sentencing at the town's sheriff court on Friday after a jury found him guilty of carrying out the sustained attack two and a half years ago.

The 35-year-old had denied an accusation that he grabbed hold of his victim's clothes, repeatedly hit him on the head with a bottle, knocked him to the ground, punched him on the head and struck him on the body with a rucksack.

But a jury didn't believe his claims of innocence and convicted him of a charge of serious assault.

Following the jury's verdict last month, sentence on Palmer, of Raglan Street in Glasgow, was deferred until Friday to allow a social worker to prepare a background report.

In court on Friday, Palmer's solicitor, Darren Fleming, said his client now accepted "full responsibility" for the attack, which happened in the car park of the Meadowbank Street centre on April 20, 2017.

Mr Fleming told the court: "The report's author seems concerned at how genuine Mr Palmer's remorse is.

"It's clear that alcohol and drug use is an issue for him, and he understands that he needs to address those issues if he is to desist from offending.

"His record does him no favours, but there have been no further convictions since this incident, although he has two pending cases."

Mr Fleming said Raglan had become a father for the first time this summer, and said his priority now was his child and his family.

"The past doesn't seem to want to let go of him," Mr Fleming continued.

"He accepts that the only appropriate disposal in this case is a custodial sentence, given the nature of his record."

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told Palmer: "You have an appalling record, and this was an appalling offence.

"Whatever condition you were in at the time, somebody told you something, and as a result of that you engaged in a sustained assault on another person, injuring him and permanently disfiguring him.

"In the circumstances I consider the appropriate sentence is one of 30 months' imprisonment."

In addition to the jail term, Palmer will also be supervised for 12 months on his release from custody.

And he was warned that any further offending during that 12-month period would result in him being returned to prison until the end of the supervision period.