A Dundee ex-paratrooper battered a 65-year-old who gave evidence against his dad in a criminal trial three decades ago.
Offshore worker Christopher Lawson approached his victim’s car and swung at him around 21 times, leaving him with five facial fractures.
He made off as children who witnessed the bloody assault rushed into Charleston Community Centre to fetch the “severely” injured man’s partner.
Lawson returned to Forfar Sheriff Court to be sentenced for the assault he carried out almost two years ago.
Lawson – who was shot while on duty in Afghanistan and spent three years on the run from justice for drug-dealing – was arrested while at the gym the following week and has now been ordered to pay £4,000 to his victim, who said he now lives life “looking over his shoulder.”
Revenge attack
Previously, the court heard that around 30 years ago, Lawson’s father and his victim worked together at a nightclub as doormen.
Following an incident at the club, the man gave evidence in court against his colleague.
At 5.45pm on March 2 2023, he parked his car outside Charleston Community Centre, to pick up his partner.
Lawson approached down the middle of the road and begin banging on his window.
Alarmed, the man opened his door to push him away.
He exited and Lawson began repeatedly punching him on the head.
Children ran inside to alert the victim’s partner, saying: “The man with the bald head is getting done in, he’s all covered in blood.”
Lawson ran off and was driven away by another person but was later identified through CCTV from a nearby shop.
The Courier described how police descended on the area in the immediate aftermath.
The victim’s right eye was swollen shut and he had significant facial swelling.
He received CT scans and x-rays, which revealed five fractures to his orbital walls, sinuses and cheekbone.
The court heard his victim now lives “looking over his shoulder,” is too afraid to go to Charleston that he doesn’t drive his partner to work and has quit the gym.
‘Different person’ now
Lawson was at the JD Gym in Dundee’s Wellgate five days after the assault when police swooped to apprehend him.
Lawson, 40, of South Road in Dundee pled guilty to assault to severe injury on Craigowan Road, while on bail for a matter for which he was later acquitted at Livingston Sheriff Court.
His solicitor David Duncan said: “He doesn’t seek to distance himself from the offending. He appears to have shown genuine remorse.
“Only by way of explanation rather than justification, he has stated that from a personal point of view, he wasn’t in a particularly positive position at the time this offence was committed.
“He had issues with homelessness and so forth. I raise that to contrast that of his present circumstances.
“He is in full-time employment, he is more stable, more mature and certainly in a better frame of mind.
“To some extent, he is a different person to the person that committed this offence.”
‘Murky background’
As well as ordering compensation, Sheriff Paul Ralph told Lawson to complete 300 hours of unpaid work in the next year.
The sheriff pointed out Lawson made “approximately 21 swings” at his victim.
He said: “The background of this offence is somewhat murky at best.
“The complainer gave evidence against your father years ago.
“It’s your third conviction for assault.
“I’m quite satisfied that custody would be appropriate… I’m persuaded, just, to impose a sentence other than prison.”
On the run
The Courier previously told how Lawson was caught with almost £15,000 worth of cocaine after causing a car crash in his Audi A5 on the A92 near Melville Lodges roundabout in Fife in December 2016.
He spent three years on the run before finally being brought to justice.
The court heard how he spent the time flaunting a champagne lifestyle in countries like Tanzania, Cambodia, Holland and the UAE.
He was arrested at a London airport and brought to court to plead guilty to dangerous driving and drug-dealing and was jailed for nearly three years.
At the time, his solicitor said Lawson turned to drink and drugs when he left the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment and plans to open a gym failed.
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