A TESCO worker who hit his colleague over the head with a champagne bottle during a night out bragged about the incident on Facebook.

Ben Webster said he was still suffering ‘flashbacks and nightmares’ six months after being struck by produce manager Alan Ball, 31, in an unprovoked attack.

The 20-year-old, a security guard at the Burnley store, has been left with a permanent scar following the incident at the town’s Walkabout bar.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Alan Ball, 31, claimed to have also been traumatised by what happened but then talked about it on his Facebook site and mocked the court system.

Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt said the Facebook postings were bravado and Ball had only been thinking of himself.

She said: "You should have had the sense to demonstrate some remorse or the signs of trauma on there."

Stephen Parker, prosecuting, told the court Mr Webster had been out with his girlfriend, friends and work colleagues in Burnley on October 31 when he was attacked.

At about midnight, they arrived at Walkabout and bottles of champagne, which one of their number had won, were being passed round the group.

As the group was leaving Walkabout, the defendant was on the dance floor with the victim's partner.

Mr Webster approached his girlfriend and Ball, holding a bottle by the neck, swung at the victim and struck him.

The victim, who had known the defendant for about four years and worked with him for two years, was taken to hospital and had eight stitches.

The defendant, of Huddersfield Road, Mossley, but formerly of The Stackhouses, Bank Parade, Burnley, had earlier admitted wounding.

He had no previous convictions.

Richard Taylor, for Ball, said character references handed to the court showed he was a hard-working, family man, who helped others.

He said the offence was not premeditated and was totally out of character.

Mr Taylor said: "This was a single moment of madness, for which he is going to have to pay extremely heavily."

After yesterday’s hearing Mr Webster said: “I still have flashbacks and nightmares about it and they’re probably worse than what actually happened.

“It plays on my mind. I’m trying my best to get it out, but it’s difficult because I look in the mirror and I see my scar, which I know is there because of him.”

“Straight away after I was hit I felt the blood gushing down my face.

“He went to hit me again, but my girlfriend put her hand out and pushed me away.

“I fell to the ground, but I managed to get out of the bar and collapsed in the doorway. It’s a bit of a blur after that.

Ball had faced a charge of Section 18 Wounding with Intent, but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of Section 20 Wounding.

Mr Webster said: “I don’t want to see him again. As far as I’m concerned it’s over and done with now.

“The police said that if he hadn’t been sent down he would have had to pay me compensation, but the money doesn’t mean anything to me. I would still have the scar, money does not get rid of that.

“He sent me a letter last week apologising, but he’d already been mocking the justice system and bragging about it on Facebook.

“Thankfully, the judge didn’t like that and sent him to prison.”

Detective Constable John McNamara, of Burnley CID, described the attack as ‘unprovoked and disgraceful’.

He said: “I’m really pleased with the sentence. It sends out the right message, that we won’t allow this kind of behaviour. Hopefully now the victim can move on.”