A 28-year-old man who beat another man with a pool stick and cue balls was ordered to get professional help for his drinking problem before being sentenced in the Supreme Court yesterday.

In May this year, Nikia Javon Burchall of King Street, Pembroke, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Antonio Francis when he hit him repeatedly on October 25, 2003 at the Devonshire Recreational Club.

Yesterday, Burchall, who has been in custody for the last eight months, told the court he felt remorseful for what he had done. Puisne Judge Charles Etta-Simmons sentenced Burchall to a two-year suspended sentence and conditions of a probation order.

?It is clear that you have abused alcohol and you need help, and until you receive professional help you will not fully recover,? said Mrs. Justice Simmons.

The terms of Burchall?s probation order include not drinking for the two year period, abiding by a 9.30 p.m. to 6.30 a.m. curfew, and staying out of all establishments and social clubs which serve alcohol. He was also ordered to enrol in the Turning Point Programme for six months.

?For the next two years you will have to stay out of trouble, if you don?t you will go to prison and finish your sentence,? continued Mrs. Justice Simmons. ?It?s all up to you now.?

Defence lawyer Richard Hector said the Substance Abuse Assessment report revealed that Burchall had been drinking heavily for the last ten years. He said his client was the kind of person who reacted badly to alcohol and lost his self-control.

?He so depended on alcohol that it causes him to act in a certain way. He would like to apologise to the young man he assaulted who is a friend of his. He intended to apologise in any event,? said Mr. Hector.

He continued: ?He?s a young man who has made several wrong turns in his life but is not too old to pick up the pieces and make something of his life.?

Details of the case reveal that Burchall punched Mr. Francis in the face several times and then picked up three pool sticks. Burchall struck him in the chest with the pool stick, which caused the victim to fall to the ground. Burchall continued to hit him with the pool sticks until they finally shattered. The tirade continued with Burchall throwing cue balls at the man?s face.

As Mr. Francis lay unconscious on the floor of the club, Burchall pulled down his trousers and underpants to expose his genitalia to the patrons, who witnessed the attack.

Mr. Francis needed 25 stitches to wounds to his left eyebrow and the top of his head. In a victim impact statement read to the court in May, Mr. Francis said that he now suffers from ?severe migraine headaches?.

Mr. Francis also received bruises to most of the left side of his body and his left hand still does not function properly. He now suffers from several problems with his left eye including frequent weeping that will probably continue, a haematoma or blood clotting above the eye, and subconjunctival haemorrhage or a ruptured blood vessel inside the eyeball.