Hotel guests and staff in Brechin were glassed and attacked by two incensed thugs during breakfast for “no good” reason, Dundee Sheriff Court heard.
Dundee pair Declan Thom, 20, and Paul Fraser, 26, caused mayhem at the Northern Hotel as they threw glasses and set off a fire extinguisher.
A Brechin City footballer and a staff member who had recently undergone brain surgery were among those subjected to the shocking violence.
Teary-eyed plumber Fraser – whose first child is due next week – begged a sheriff not to remand him in custody ahead of sentencing, shouting: “What the f**k, mate? Bro’ please have mercy.”
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith said: “I’m not your mate” before sending Fraser and Thom to the cells.
Hotel chaos
The court was told how guests were having breakfast at about 10.15am when Thom and Fraser entered.
Prosecutor Calum Gordon said they were “immediately hostile”, with both smashing glasses on the floors and walls and shouting for someone called “Mark”.
Nobody in the hotel knew Thom, Fraser or “Mark”.
“The accused were asked to calm down and a staff member asked the accused to leave,” Mr Gordon said.
“The accused continued the tirade of abuse towards all persons before leaving.
“The accused returned to the locus and again began being hostile.
“The accused Thom picked up a fire extinguisher and began spraying it over persons in the locus.
“Thom punched one of the witnesses to the head, causing swelling.
“The witness had recently recovered from brain surgery a few months prior.”
Thom then threw a glass which struck a woman, Anna Devine, on the head, causing “immediate pain” and bleeding.
A glass struck Hamish Thomson, who was a Brechin City player at the time.
It had been thrown by Fraser, who was eventually forced out of the hotel.
CCTV footage captured Thom driving off and he was later stopped by police on the A933, where he was found to be more than three times the drink-drive limit.
Admissions
Thom, of Finavon Place, and Harefield Road resident Fraser pled guilty to shouting, challenging people to fight, throwing glasses at the floor and wall causing it to smash, discharging a fire extinguisher and struggling violently with members of the public on at the hotel on Clerk Street, Brechin, on April 23 2023.
Thom – who has a previous conviction for a vicious baseball attack in 2021 – injured Ms Devine.
Fraser admitted throwing glasses at Mr Thomson, one of which struck him on the head and injured him before struggling with him.
Thom also punched staff member Sugath Ariyaranta on the head before driving with excess alcohol (72mics/ 22).
‘Potential danger to the public’
Sheriff Niven-Smith called for reports but raised concerns about whether the pair were a “danger to the public”, despite both complying with bail conditions for almost 18 months.
Defence solicitor Jim Caird said Thom had made significant progress on a community payback order, adding the incident was the last criminal matter in which he had been involved.
He said: “There is no good explanation for this and it seems it’s rather immature behaviour.
“It seems Mr Thom discovered that a girl he had been in a relationship with for some months was at the hotel and posting pictures of herself with other people and he became extremely jealous of this.
“He had been drinking. He just had this reaction to this and behaved in this manner.”
Mr Caird said Thom had spent time receiving help from psychologists to assist with ADHD and asked the sheriff to continue bail.
Doug McConnell, for Fraser, asked for bail and said his client had a limited record.
“He has a partner who is pregnant and is due their first child on September 10,” Mr McConnell said.
“That’s obviously a significant part of my bail application. This took place in April 2023 and he has been on bail since then.”
Sheriff Niven-Smith said: “Granting bail to these people, having regard to the narrative, is not attractive to me because I consider they are a potential danger to the public.”
The pair were remanded ahead of sentencing in October.
Appeals against the sheriff’s decision were lodged shortly afterwards and a hearing will take place in the coming days.
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