An Arbroath man who assaulted two people with a broken bottle has narrowly avoided jail.
Samuel Glen was sentenced to the maximum number of unpaid work hours permitted by a sheriff court as an alternative to custody for the assaults which took place on June 6 2015.
Glen admitted assaulting a man in Leonard Street and striking him on the head with a bottle, causing it to break and then struck him again with the bottle to his injury and permanent disfigurement.
In the same confrontation, the 23-year-old struck another man on the neck with the broken bottle.
Defence agent Grant Bruce said that Glen, who resides in Leonard Street, had purchased a bottle of wine after going out for drinks in Arbroath.
He told Forfar Sheriff Court: “He went to the locus, as many people do after the pubs close, with the bottle of wine and the bottle was being offered around for people to take a drink of.
“He was in possession of the bottle when he was approached by the complainers.
“One of the men called him a paedophile which he thought was to do with the fact he had a moustache at the time. The complainers had taken a large amount of alcohol.
“He had the bottle in his hands and there was an altercation between them.”
The court heard that Glen suffered injuries himself during the confrontation.
Depute fiscal Jill Drummond said: “We don’t dispute that there was retribution by the parties involved.
“The accused was found by police on the ground with injuries and police initially thought he was the victim.”
Mr Bruce added: “My client’s recollection was that there was a struggle and the assault happened during the struggle. There were long discussions about entering a self-defence plea.”
Sheriff Pino Di Emidio said there had been a “disproportionate reaction” by Glen when he was confronted by the men.
He said: “This is a matter of great seriousness given it involves two assaults using a bottle, one of which involves an injury involving disfigurement.
“Taking account of the circumstances I note that your record doesn’t have any other analogous convictions and that you have stayed clear of trouble in the year and a half since this happened.
“However, I have come to the conclusion that I can deal with this matter in a way that’s an alternative to custody which is a community payback order with 300 hours of unpaid work.
“I’m not going to discount this amount any further to take account of your plea because in my view I am stretching matters as far as I can.
“That’s the maximum number of hours I can impose and it has to be done within 18 months.
“If it were not for the mitigation I would have imposed a significant custodial sentence.”
