A paranoid thug has been jailed for a “ferocious” assault at a Perth homeless unit that left his victim with multiple broken facial bones.
Luke MacDonald was seen leaving his victim’s room with his hands soaked in blood.
Perth Sheriff Court heard the 23-year-old may have been in the grip of drug-induced psychosis at the time.
The 23-year-old admitted attacking Alexander Melville at the Salvation Army’s Skinnergate hostel on September 16 last year.
He also pled guilty to an unprovoked assault on stranger Keiron Millar in the city’s Half a Tanner pub about a month earlier.
MacDonald, who has a history of offending, was warned not to become “one of those sad lonely lags” who is in and out of prison all of their lives.
Drug-induced psychosis
Sheriff William Wood told MacDonald: “Here you are before the court, with two offences of considerable violence towards people who were – on the face of it – not troubling you personally at all.
“It must have been quite a shock for Mr Millar to find himself getting punched repeatedly in the face.
“The assault on Mr Melville was sustained, ferocious and vicious, causing him a considerable amount of damage to his face.
“In those circumstances, only a custodial sentence is appropriate.”
He added: “Be under no illusion that being under the influence of drugs when these offences were committed is no excuse.
“This was self-induced drug-induced psychosis and if you don’t stop you will end up back here.
“You will become one of those sad lonely lags who are in and out of prison for stupid stuff they wish they hadn’t done, because they were under the influence of some intoxicant or another.”
MacDonald was jailed for 27 months.
Sheriff Wood imposed a 12-month supervised release order “to protect the public from serious harm.”
Surprise attack
Prosecutor Elizabeth Hodgson said Mr Millar had been out drinking with his cousin in the city centre Half a Tanner on the evening of August 18 last year and briefly stepped outside.
When he re-entered, he was approached by MacDonald who asked him: “What’s going on?”
“He then punched him twice to the right side of his face,” said Ms Hodgson.
“The victim had no idea why Mr MacDonald had repeatedly punched him.
“He was taken to Perth Royal Infirmary, where it was established he had sustained serious bruising to his left eye.”
The fiscal depute described the second assault at the Skinnergate hostel about a month later, on September 16.
“Just after 8am, Mr MacDonald exited his room and walked down the corridor to the victim’s room.
“He knocked multiple times and after getting no response, he banged on the door repeatedly until it was opened.
“The accused was later seen exiting the room with blood covering his hands and ran upstairs.”
Another occupant alerted staff when he heard “whimpering” noises coming from Mr Melville’s room.
“When staff entered, they observed the victim hunched over the bed and spitting blood,” Ms Hodgson said.
“There was a significant amount of blood on the bed.”
Mr Lamont was rushed to Perth Royal Infirmary.
Police tried to interview him but his face was so swollen he struggled to speak.
He suffered a broken jaw and nasal bones.
Mr Melville told officers he did not know who had attacked him.
Drug use
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, said her client had been on remand since September.
“Mr MacDonald had been living in homeless accommodation, purely because the relationship with his father had become strained.
“He had been asked to leave the family home.
“At that stage, Mr MacDonald was misusing a number of substances, which had a knock-on effect to his mental health.”
The court heard he had been taking a variety of drugs including street valium, ketamine and crack cocaine.
A psychologist’s report revealed MacDonald had a history of drug-induced psychosis.
Ms Clark said: “Mr MacDonald seemed to have developed something of a fixation on Mr Melville.
“He was of the view he had been responsible for getting the police to the unit to speak to Mr MacDonald for things that were not true.”
MacDonald’s behaviour may have been a result of “paranoid ideation and/or auditory hallucinations,” according to a psychologist.
Ms Clark said her client was due to start work as a fencer before he was arrested.
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