A NEW dad hit a supermarket security guard in the face with a tin of baby milk in anger at being refused a refund, a court heard.

Steven Barnett, 51, fractured Sainsbury’s worker Glen Braley’s nose during the assault on a busy Friday afternoon last year.

It happened after Barnett had been asked to leave the store in Alder Road for making “an appalling fuss” about exchanging some milk tins, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.

Mr Braley was following him out when Barnett struck, in full view of customers.

Handing Barnett a six-month suspended sentence, Judge John Harrow said: “You swung round at him with the bag in your hand containing the baby milk.

“That is a weapon. It came into contact with his nose and fractured it.”

He added: “It caused a nasty injury to a person of some authority in a busy store in the presence of customers.”

Jurors found Barnett guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at trial.

Barnett, who had a six-week-old son at the time of the attack on August 26 last year, had been stressed by financial worries and caring for his wife’s sister, Nigel Mitchell said in mitigation.

Barnett, of Ivamy Place, in Bournemouth, must also complete 150 hours community work and pay £1,250 in costs.

This includes £750 compensation for Mr Braley.