A raging father who left a peacemaker needing eight stitches after an attack outside a Carnoustie hotel has been placed on an electronic tag.
Keith Taylor was on holiday with his wife and friends when he was set upon by Francis Davie outside the Kinloch Arms Hotel.
Davie became enraged after witnessing Mr Taylor trying to stop a fight between his daughter and another woman.
The 47-year-old punched him once in the attack, which caused him to strike his head on the stone edge of a window frame outside the Carnoustie hotel.
Davie was spared a prison sentence at Dundee Sheriff Court after previously pleading guilty to the August 2019 attack.
Sheriff Gregor Murray said: “The complainer was trying to stop it.
“The Crown accept you only threw one punch and didn’t intend to cause injury.
“You were reckless to the consequences.”
Fiscal depute Lynne Mannion previously described how Mr Taylor and his party saw a young female run towards another outside the High Street hotel.
She said: “The two women began a confrontational argument. The witness, Taylor, stepped in to break it up.
“The accused appeared from a Vauxhall Insignia parked on the street and shouted ‘don’t you put your hands on my daughter’.
“He then punched the witness once on the face. The force caused him to fall on the stone edge of a window frame.”
Hole in the head
Mr Taylor said he “immediately” felt blood, as well as a hole in his head.
Davie was confronted about his actions by Mr Taylor’s horrified wife and said: “That was my daughter, your husband had his hands on her.”
He and his daughter drove off but a picture was taken of his car.
Police attended the scene at 10.30pm, where it was found Mr Taylor had lost a “significant” amount of blood.
He was taken to Ninewells Hospital for treatment for a 10cm wound, which stretched from the top of the skull.
Davie was traced by police and showed officers bruising on his bicep, which he claimed was caused by Mr Taylor.
However, witnesses at the scene strenuously denied Mr Taylor had fought back in any way.
‘Misread the situation’
Davie, of Rosefield Street, Dundee, pleaded guilty to punching Mr Taylor on the head, causing him to strike his head on the stone edge of a window frame to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Solicitor Billy Rennie said: “He misread the situation.
“He didn’t know the complainer wasn’t part of the incident and reacted in the way he did.
“Unfortunately, there were significant consequences.”
Davie was placed on supervision for 18 months and placed on a restriction of liberty order for six months.
He will have to remain indoors between 7pm and 7am each day during that period.
