A Policeman told of how a night out with friends turned into a bloody ordeal when a pub patron smashed him in the face with a glass.

Inspector Nicholas Pedro told the Supreme Court jury yesterday of how his assailant, Darren Michael Souza, 26, had confronted and sworn at him in Blue Juice bar off Front Street last May.

Souza, of Inland Lane, Pembroke denies wounding Insp. Pedro with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon and violently resisting arrest.

But he pleaded guilty to using offensive words on May 18 last year.

Insp. Pedro said he had left a Freemason?s Lodge meeting and banquet on Reid Street with several other Police colleagues but troubled flared in Blue Juice at about 12.40 a.m. as four of them filed from the indoor bar into the outdoor section where a group of men were standing.

He said Souza looked at him and said: ??Yah c**t.?

Pedro said: ?I replied ?Excuse me?? He replied: ?You heard me, you are a f**king c**t.?

Insp. Pedro said Souza looked familiar but he did not know him.

He told the jury in the opening day of the trial: ?I explained to him I was a Police officer and I didn?t appreciate the way he was speaking to me. He said: ?I don?t give a f**k, you are a f**king c**t?.?

Insp. Pedro said policeman Ben Beasley, who was in front of him, came back and said: ?Come on, he?s drunk, move away.?

He said the pair of them pressed on but heard a commotion and looked back to sea Souza cursing Detective Sergeant Dean Martin in a similar manner.

He said Ben Beasley then decided to get the bouncer but as he followed Souza put his arm up block him. Insp. Pedro said: ?Given his prior behaviour and language I considered that assault. I placed my hand on his arm to arrest him.

?But before I could get the words out to state he was arrested the accused came around with his right arm with a glass and smashed me on the side of the face. I felt a wet sensation and I assumed I was bleeding.?

He said Policeman Roger Saints grabbed Souza from behind but the pair struggled.

?The accused managed to break free from Mr. Saints who was delivered a blow on the back of his head by another man.?

A bleeding Insp. Pedro looked up to see Souza standing on the steps and went over to grab him.

?There was a considerable struggle going on. I wanted to get him away from where his friends could assist and I could be attacked so I took him down the steps on the road to Front Street.?

Fellow Policeman Robert Cardwell then came to Insp. Pedro?s aid to allow him to get his wound seen dealt with.

Insp. Pedro said, as they waited for further Police back-up to arrive, Souza said to him: ?That?s what you get for a couple of years ago. That?s what happens.?

Insp. Pedro told the court yesterday: ?I had no idea what he was talking about at the time. I asked him what he meant by that but he did not answer me.?

He told Prosecutor Carrington Mahoney that he needed 14 strips put on his wounds ? one of which was clearly visible in court yesterday.

Plastic Surgeon Christopher Johnson said Insp. Pedro later came to see him with five facial wounds including one which was three centimetres long.

Dr. Johnson said: ?It was obvious to me the majority of the wounds would be permanent.?

Under questioning from Defence counsel Victoria Pearman, Insp. Pedro denied being drunk and said he had only had small number of drinks because it was a Monday night.

He said the group had been at the Lodge meeting for the initiation of Sgt. Martin and Mark Norman but he denied the Freemasons was a secret society but said it was a ?society that has secrets? and a ?Brotherhood of men?.

Asked if it was a brotherhood which promises members look after each other Insp. Pedro said: ?Absolutely not if there?s an interest there.?

And Insp. Pedro denied pushing into Souza.

The case continues before Puisne Judge Charles Etta-Simmons today.