Drunk City banker jailed for bottle attack at ball

Colin Sharpe, 31, aimed a "back-hand smash" tennis stroke down on Joe Delvaux's temple in front of hundreds of guests from the banking world. The beer bottle narrowly missed the victim's eye and an artery.

Sharpe, a former Goldman Sachs employee, had made a pass at Mr Delvaux's wife after drinking free alcohol all night at the Credit Suisse ball at Paper Nightclub in Piccadilly.

Mr Delvaux, 28, a fund manager at Insparo Asset Management, had a large shard of glass removed from a one and a half inch gash in his head and has been left with a permanent scar by his eyebrow. The men did not know each other.

Sharpe, who had been working for hedge fund Oxburgh Partners for four weeks at the time of the attack in July last year, was "clearly very drunk" when he approached Mrs Delvaux at about midnight, Southwark crown court heard. Sharpe, from Wandsworth, was sacked immediately after the assault.

Mr Delvaux, who still suffers headaches caused by the blow, was too ashamed of his appearance after the attack to meet clients for several months, resulting in lost business. He personally will lose about £20,000 in potential bonuses because of the lost contract, the court was told.

Sharpe pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 26 months.