A man needed 50 stitches in his face after a violent attack by a knuckleduster-wearing thug in a Fife shop.
Russell Bryson, 32, carried out the vicious assault on Aiden Merrilees in the Premier store in Ballingry‘s Martin Crescent on August 3 2020.
CCTV footage played in Dunfermline Sheriff Court showed Bryson approach his victim in one of the aisles and launch a flurry of punches to his head and body.
Procurator fiscal depute Sarah Smith told the court Bryson punched Mr Merrilees to the left side of the face and caused him to fall to the ground.
She said: “The accused continued to strike him repeatedly.
“Throughout the assault, the accused wore a knuckleduster and the incident was captured on CCTV”.
Ms Smith said a witness in the shop saw the attack and shouted for Bryson to stop, prompting him to leave.
Cuts to face
The fiscal said the victim described “slipping in and out of consciousness” on his way to hospital.
She continued: “At hospital, two lacerations to the face required 50 stitches between them”.
The fiscal said the victim was left with a 5cm long scar to his left temple and a scar in the centre of his forehead, from the hairline down to the left eyebrow.
Bryson appeared in court to plead guilty to a charge of assaulting Mr Merrilees by repeatedly punching and striking him on the head and body while holding a knuckleduster or similar instrument, to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Sheriff Susan Duff told him: “This is a violent attack captured on CCTV footage”.
The sheriff deferred sentence until February 6 for the production of background reports, adding: “(You) should be aware a custodial sentence must be one of the sentences I am considering, in light of the nature of the attack”.
Life in a ‘pretty poor place’
Bryson, of Killearn Street in Glasgow’s Possilpark, was released on bail meantime.
Defence lawyer Alexander Flett said his client has previous convictions but his last was in 2010.
The solicitor said Bryson’s life was in a “pretty poor place” and he had tried to address matters before his court appearance by going into rehabilitation.
Mr Flett said Bryson is now working full time in the rope access field (commercial climbing).
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