A BOUNCER who caused lifelong injuries to a customer he threw out of a nightclub has avoided a jail sentence.

Thomas Bater was told it was “only by the narrowest of margins” he was not being sent to prison and that working in a bar was not “a licence to assault members of the public”.

The customer sustained a fractured knee-cap and a deep facial cut after being ejected from the Brasshouse in Dunfermline by bouncer Bater.

The man now walks with the aid of a stick, had to give up his job and will be on painkillers for the rest of his life, a court heard previously.

The incident was captured on CCTV, which showed the injured man lying sprawled on the pavement unconscious outside the venue.

Bater, 30, of Leadside Crescent, Wellwood, was found guilty after a trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

He had denied that on April 1, 2018, at Carnegie Drive, he assaulted the victim by pushing him on the body, causing him to the fall to the ground whereby he was rendered unconscious, all to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment.

The 53-year-old victim, from the Belfast area, had been visiting Fife to attend a First World War Remembrance event.

The incident was captured on CCTV and shown in court. The victim can be seen being thrown out of the bar and onto the pavement outside.

He sustained a fractured knee-cap and appeared in the witness box with a walking stick.

The court heard he had to give up his job as a bus driver for special needs children. He said he had been told he would be on painkillers for the rest of his life and said the incident has affected his mental health.

He required facial surgery after sustaining a deep cut to his nose and also underwent an operation on his knee.

At sentencing, defence solicitor Chris Sneddon said his client had no previous offences and was “remorseful” for his actions.

Sheriff Charles Macnair told Bater: “You were employed to do a job in relation to a public house. That does not give you a licence to assault members of the public.

“I do accept you did not intend to cause serious injury but that is what you did.”

He had decided against a jail sentence “only by the narrowest of margins given the extent of the injuries caused”.

Instead, he imposed a community payback order with 300 hours of unpaid work.

The sheriff said that compensation would be appropriate but given Bater’s restricted financial circumstances, it would not be possible to make an order which was “even remotely close” to a figure which would reflect the injuries. Therefore, no compensation order was made.