A Perthshire post office boss who left a customer with broken ribs and a collapsed lung in a “brutal and sustained” assault has narrowly avoided jail.
Auchterarder shopkeeper Nahman Naheem has been ordered to pay compensation to Andrew McNaughton after a vicious flare-up outside his High Street store.
Naheem knocked his victim to the ground and sat on his chest as he rained down more than a dozen punches.
An off-duty police officer went to Mr McNaughton’s aid after seeing him lying on the pavement.
The victim, who complained he was struggling to breathe, was rushed away for emergency surgery to fit a drain in his chest.
Naheem, 33, appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted the assault on June 21, 2020.
He said he was provoked by Mr McNaughton who had entered his News Plus store that morning and confronted him.
The two men had fallen out days earlier when Mr McNaughton slammed his shop door closed, breaking it.
The court heard, before the attack, Mr McNaughton had swung a punch at Naheem.
Compensation order
Sheriff William Wood told Naheem he could have been sent to prison.
“This does not paint a very good picture.
“Whatever the build-up was, it ought to have been patently obvious that what you did went far beyond what would have been lawful in terms of self defence.
“You effectively had Mr McNaughton in a position of some vulnerability and the assault was sustained and it was brutal.
“That would ordinarily attract a custodial sentence and I am drawn towards that by the narrowest of margins.”
The sheriff added: “However, there is considerable amount of mitigation.
“The plea was accepted by the Crown on the basis that there had been some provocation.
“It does appear that this is very much a blip in your lawful conduct.”
Sheriff Wood ordered Naheem to pay his victim £2,000 compensation.
“Mr McNaughton suffered significant, serious injuries that may well have a lasting impact on him,” he said.
“You may feel he brought this all upon himself but the injuries he suffered were well in excess of what was legally appropriate.
“He has suffered potentially life-changing injuries as a result of your conduct.”
Naheem, of Kessington Drive, Bearsden, was also placed on supervision for a year and ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.
Sheriff Wood told him: “It seems that you are a valued member of the community in Auchterarder and you provide a very valuable service.
“I hope that you will learn from this and we won’t see you in court again.”
Flare-up outside Auchterarder store
A row broke out when Naheem asked him to pay for the broken door.
Matters escalated and the argument spilled out onto the street, where it was spotted by the off-duty officer.
Ms Lyons said: “As a consequence of the assault, Mr McNaughton sustained a punctured lung, whereby gas escaped into his chest cavity, and several fractured ribs.
“He underwent surgery to have a drain fitted.”
