Drunk broker 'slashed man's face with champagne glass in bar row'

Neil Durbidge, 31, had downed several bottles of champagne in celebration of a successful deal before launching a savage assault on rail inspector Paul Baldock, the jury was told.

The victim was left with a 12cm zig-zag scar on his left cheek after Durbidge allegedly raked the jagged stem of the glass down his face. In the witness box, Mr Baldock, 26, told jurors how the mortgage broker attacked him while his back was turned "for no reason."

Southwark crown court heard he was at the Reflex Bar in Watling Street celebrating his girlfriend's 24th birthday with his parents in February 2008, when a row broke out with Durbidge and his friends. Mr Baldock said there had been tension between the two groups, and one of Durbidge's group, "a bald-headed man", apologised to him repeatedly for the broker's behaviour.

Later, Durbidge himself walked up to Mr Baldock and did "a silly dance" behind his girlfriend, the court heard.

"I don't now why, but I didn't ignore it, Mr Baldock said. "[Durbidge] was acting like an idiot, and I knew if I had talked to him, something would happen. I spoke to the bald-headed man, but he just seemed angry straight away. He came towards me and our heads were together."

At this point Durbidge walked over from the dancefloor, the jury was told. Mr Baldock said: "I think we exchanged a few words, and my mum and her friend started pulling me backwards. I turned around to say to them, 'Stop pulling me backwards, all you are going to do is escalate the situation,' and as I turned back he smashed me in the face with a glass".

"It was just a big crunch really. It didn't exactly hurt straight away. I think the adrenaline sort of kicked in, because I grabbed hold of him, and that's when we both went down on the ground." Bouncers separated the two men and took them outside while police were called, the jury was told. The victim suffered damage to the muscles and blood vessels of his face. "It was just bandages and bandages. They kept filling up with blood and they had to put another one on," he said.

Durbidge, of North Wembley, denies wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The case continues.