A Dundee man viciously assaulted his neighbour, leaving him disfigured, in a bizarre and unprovoked homophobic attack.
Michael Hamilton, 25, turned up at his upstairs neighbours’ home, despite not knowing them, and invited himself in for a drink at 3am on July 17, 2017.
Dylan Smith, who stayed at the property on Burnside Court with Dillon Rait, initially objected to Hamilton’s presence but they all ended up talking amicably in the living room some hours later.
Out of the blue, Hamilton picked up a mug and asked “how do you like your coffee”, before swinging it at Mr Smith’s face, causing it to smash.
When paramedics came to tend to the heavily bleeding man, Hamilton shouted at them that his victim was gay.
Fiscal depute Charmaine Gilmartin said: “The accused took umbrage to the complainer not wanting him in the flat.”
She said Hamilton, Mr Rait and a friend had sat up in the living room drinking for several hours after he was let inside.
At around 6.30am, Hamilton went into Mr Smith’s room to explain his earlier actions and to apologise.
The two men shook hands and walked through to the living room, said Ms Gilmartin.
After around 15 minutes of conversation with no issues arising, Hamilton launched an unprovoked attack on Mr Smith.
Ms Gilmartin added: “The complainer had a large laceration to the right of his mouth which required six stitches; swelling and tenderness to the bridge of his nose and cuts between his eyebrows and on the the right eye, which required to be glued.
“The complainer was spoken to by police in January 2018 and confirmed he is left with permanent scars to his face.”
Hamilton, of Helmsdale Drive, pleaded guilty to the assault, which was aggravated by prejudice relating to sexual orientation.
He also admitted another charge relating to a separate incident on August 28 2018, when he broke into a flat on Leith Walk, Dundee, and stole a TV, DVD player, digital TV box, a clothes horse and a wooden mallet, while on bail.
Sheriff Thomas Hughes deferred sentencing until June 25 and remanded Hamilton in custody until then.
