A LAWYER had to inform the parents of a South-ampton man he would be spending Christmas and the New Year behind bars for violence.

Andrew Clifft went to Southampton Crown Court without telling them he was in trouble for headbutting another man in a nightclub - and he was jailed for six months.

Clifft, 23, was said to have inflicted a one-and-half-inch cut above Mark Whettingsteel's eyebrow during a late night incident at the city's Chicago Rock Cafe.

After the headbutt, he punched his victim about the face and body before being restrained by staff, who called the police.

Clifft told them he had been drinking and saw red after getting wound up but denied throwing punches.

Jailing Clifft, of Farringford Road, Thornhill, for wounding, Judge Paul Darlow said he had launched a sustained and utterly unprovoked attack. He added: "You have a bad record and this offence is so serious only a custodial sentence is justified. Your plea of guilty represents you are sorry and I take into account no weapon was used, and that the wound was not the most serious.''

Christopher Parker, defending, said there was no excuse for the offence and Clifft accepted responsibility. "He was very drunk and behaved out of character. Asking for sentence to be deferred, Mr Parker told how Clifft had cut down his drinking as he recognised he had a problem. He had not told his parents he was at court. "He is utterly shocked and dreading his future. He won't find prison easy.''

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