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A drunken Perth man carried out a “completely unprovoked attack” in a city centre bar.

Thirty-year-old Shawn McPhee charged at a customer in the Capital Asset in Tay Street, grabbed him and punched him on the face.

And when he was restrained by bar manager Ranald Duncan he sank his teeth into his arm, “biting down hard for 15 seconds, causing severe pain,” Perth Sheriff Court was told.

McPhee, of Magpie Way, Muirton, was ordered to pay a total of £600 in compensation to the victims.

And he narrowly avoided a prison sentence for what Sheriff Gillian Wade described as a serious matter.

Instead McPhee will have to complete 270 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months and will be supervised by a social worker for two years.

He will also have to undergo alcohol treatment.

He admitted assaulting David McNaughton and Mr Duncan in the pub on March 31.

Depute fiscal Robbie Brown said Mr McNaughton was with a group of people in the pub at about noon.

He stold the court: “They had been drinking but the accused was apparently well under the influence of alcohol.

“When Mr McNaughton stood up the accused charged at him.

“It was a completely unprovoked attack and other persons intervened.”

Mr Duncan tried to put him out of the premises but the McPhee tried to get back in and bit the pub boss.

Solicitor David Holmes said a background report highlighted problems the accused had been dealing with and he had been seeing a psychologist.

Sheriff Wade ordered McPhee to pay Mr Duncan £400 and Mr McNaughton £200 in compensation at the rate of £30 a month.

She warned him that the court order was a direct alternative to a period behind bars.

Pointing out he had previous convictions for assault, she added: “This was a marked escalation in your offending behaviour.”