A DRUNK man who hurled a wine glass at a former Pop Idol contestant as he rowed with his wife has been locked up for 17 months.

Sean McDermott, 28, from Fleetwood, Lancashire, left singer Chris Tame, from Thirsk, bleeding profusely after striking him while he was singing at a bar in the town on June 3.

The dad-of-two admitted unlawfully wounding the vocalist, who made it to the televised stages of the talent show contest 14 years ago, alleging he made remarks about him over the microphone.

But Mr Tame, who was singing Shut Up And Dance at the time, said: “I never said a word to him, I was joking with two girls who were leaving the dancefloor and trying to get them back up.

“The next minute he came running towards me and hurled the wine at me, hitting me with the glass. I have been singing for 18 years and have never been attacked. As performers we deliberately avoid people who are drunk or arguing for obvious reasons.”

Prosecuting at Preston Crown Court, David Clarke said Mr Tame had said: “Oh look, she’s moving away” as the couple bickered, which McDermott took exception to. McDermott also admits breaching a restraining order against his wife the same night by meeting up with her.

Julie Taylor, defending, said the couple had met up and her client had been drinking all day when they started arguing.

She said: “At the moment she moved away from him, the singer was taunting the defendant saying things about their argument publicly over the microphone.”

Jailing him, Judge Jonathan Gibson, said: “The complainant was a singer who was on stage at the time and he appears to have made a comment to which you took exception.

“You, having had a lot to drink, picked up a wine bottle - you fortunately didn’t use it because you dropped it - but you also had a wine glass in your hand and you approached the complainant.

“You threw the contents of the wine glass at him, it’s not clear whether you threw the glass or or had it in your hand when you punched him but he suffered three small lacerations to his ear, which bled profusely.

“You followed up the initial motion with two or three punches and others intervened to separate you.”