Man pepper sprayed doormen after he was ejected from bar

A man who sprayed two doormen with pepper spray when they asked him to leave a bar has been spared jail.

Lewis Dowson was ejected fromthe River Bar, in Fatfield, Washington, after a row.

Newcastle Crown Court heard he told the men he would return with a shooter and that they were “going to get it”.

Christopher McKee, prosecuting, said Dowson later got out of a car and sprayed them with a liquid substance.

One was left temporarily blind after being sprayed in the face by the 30-year-old.

Dowson was later spotted on CCTV footage and identified by both men.

The court heard how Dowson said after his arrest: ‘If they have id’d me, it must have been me. I can’t remember much about being in there and I’m deeply sorry’.

Paul Rooney, defending, said: “At this time in his life his grandmother had died, he had broken up with his girlfriend.

“To put it bluntly, he had gone off the rails. He realises he has a problem when he consumes alcohol.”

He told the court how Dowson had got a job in the wind turbine industry and is now in a new relationship.

Judge Penny Morland told Dowson: “They had no way of knowing you were using pepper pray and not something which could cause more permanent damage.”

Dowson of Donvale Road, Washington, who admitted two counts of common assault and having an offensive weapon, was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for 12 months with a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 150 hours’ unpaid work.