A MAN who stabbed an off-duty firefighter with a penknife in a disagreement over a woman has been spared a jail sentence.

On Friday the Royal Court decided that defendant John Glover’s mitigation was exceptional as he had suffered a very serious brain injury as a young man.

As a result, the court sentenced him to 180 hours of community service.

The court heard that Glover (40), of St John, had a personality and obsessive compulsive disorder which impaired his ability to act rationally, particularly in stressful situations. He is physically disabled and has impaired speech.

Last month Glocer was convicted by a jury of a grave and criminal assault on retained firefighter Patrick Buckley on

22 October.

On Friday, Crown Advocate Alan Binnington said that Glover had a history of violence, driving and public order offences, and had always been dealt with leniently because of his disabilities.

He called for a prison sentence of two years.