A TEENAGER attacked his girlfriend's father, slicing through his ear and slashing his scalp and arm in a vicious attack.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Uzair Ellahi, 17, set about Ian Glover with a broken glass vase, in front of the victims' hysterical daughter and ex-wife.

He sliced through the cartilage of Mr Glover’s ear and left his victim needing 42 stitches.

The hearing was told the injuries to Mr Glover, who was knocked unconscious at first, could have been fatal.

Speaking after the case, the dad-of-two said he felt lucky to be alive.

He said: “It was one centimetre from my jugular vain. He could have killed me.

“I was scared I'll admit, I feared for my safety. My ear was cut in half and when I came round and was getting off the floor he went to hit me again.

“It took about six weeks to heal. Through winter I had to wear a hat to cover it because it was so sore.”

During the incident, Ellahi also kicked and punched his girlfriend Paige’s mum, Sharon Martin, who suffered a black eye and bruises.

Ellahi, from Nelson, had been drinking and could remember little about what he had done, the court heard.

The defendant, more recently living in Burnley Road, Blackburn, admitted wounding and common assault on November 17 last year.

He has two previous convictions for violence and was sentenced to a year in jail.

Judge Graham Knowles, QC, described the attacks as 'persistent and sustained'.

He said: “This is a case where the sentence of last resort, custody, is called for.”

He said that if Ellahi had been an adult, he would have been facing a substantial jail term.

But Mr Glover, 41, of Roberts Street, Nelson, branded the sentence 'disgusting'.

The unemployed labourer said: “I'm shocked and disgusted. It should be longer. He's got 12 months and he could be out in six.

“He's hiding behind his age. I don't think his age should have anything to do with it.

“He's already got a criminal record and he's only 17. What's he going to be like when he's in his twenties?”

Martin Hackett, defending Ellahi, said all parties had been drinking.

He said: “This defendant behaved, I have to accept, quite disgracefully and very dangerously.”