Professor Green attacker gets eight-year sentence

Professor Green was left with a six-inch scar on his neck after the attack

A man who attacked British rapper Professor Green with a broken bottle has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Anthony Jones, 25 and from east London, was found guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court of GBH with intent and will serve a minimum of four years in jail.

He attacked Professor Green, whose real name is Stephen Manderson, outside a nightclub in May 2009.

The attack left the rapper with a six-inch (15cm) scar on his neck.

'Snitching' accusations

The hip hop artist spoke to Newsbeat in November after he was accused of "snitching" on various blogs and web forums including Twitter and Facebook.

Professor Green said he had to appear as a witness during the trial last year otherwise he would have been arrested himself.

He said: "I nearly lost my life and I was in a position where I stood to lose everything if I don't go to court."

But he said he was just standing up for himself.

"It wasn't like I was snitching because I wasn't taking anything off my shoulders and putting it on someone else's but at the same time there was something morally correct to do."

The Hackney rapper, who won best hip hop act at last year's Mobo awards, has told Newsbeat he didn't press charges but was summonsed to court and made to give evidence.

"I've not had a clean past," he admitted. "I've been arrested. If I'm a rat, how come when I was looking at years I didn't implicate anybody?

"What I did wasn't removing myself of responsibility because I wasn't responsible for anything.

"It didn't make me feel good because of where I come from. I don't believe in snitching.

"If you've put yourself in a predicament then you should deal with that and you should be man enough to take the responsibility."