A MAN caught up in an after hours street brawl faces a fast track sentence in the next two weeks after admitting being involved in a vicious glassing attack.
But a jury cleared Patrick Bruce, 18, of Ringstead Close, Wilmslow, of stabbing at Anthony Hampshire, 22, with a broken bottle and causing a horrific neck injury which needed hospital treatment.
He pleaded not guilty at Knutsford Crown Court to wounding with intent and was acquitted but admitted violent disorder.
Bruce told the jury he saw the attack on Mr Hampshire outside Bar 108 and the Millstone pub in Water Green, Macclesfield, on November 30 last year.
He admitted punching Mr Hampshire on the cheek but denied he was the person who smashed the bottle and then stabbed it against his neck.
Mr Hampshire named Bruce as his attacker but Bruce told the jury: "I only became involved towards the end of the fight and I punched him on the cheek. I did not take hold of a bottle or a piece of glass and I didn't at any stage stab him in the neck."
In court he named the person he claimed had carried out the attack and said he did not give it at the time because of family connections. He said it was up to the police to find out the person responsible.
The court heard how a gang of five or six youths all dressed in black attacked Mr Hampshire when he went to the aid of a young girl being harassed by them. Mr Hampshire admitted he had been drinking heavily and said that all he remembered after the attack was a woman from a nearby public house giving him a towel to stem the bleeding and arranging for him to be taken to Macclesfield General Hospital by taxi for treatment.
Prosecutor, Myles Dignam said a street video taken at the time showed something of the incident but was not clear enough to identify those involved.
Judge Geoffrey Kilfoil remanded Bruce in custody for pre-sentence reports and said he should expect a custodial sentence.
Because he was a persistent offender he would be dealt with under the new fast track sentencing rules.