A countdown champion who travelled 400 miles to attack a teenage Asda worker in Glenrothes has blogged about hearing a voice telling him he was “the devil”.
Richard Brittain, 29, who has been released early from a 30-month prison sentence, also said the voice told him to stare directly at the sun.
Brittain, who will be monitored by the authorities for a year following his release, travelled from Bedford in October 2014 to target a shop assistant at Asda in Glenrothes.
Paige Rolland, who was 19 at the time, described seeing blood dripping down her arms after Brittain, who lifted the Countdown trophy in 2006, approached her from behind and smashed a wine bottle over her head.
Miss Rolland, who is studying to be a nurse, had left a negative review of a book Brittain had published online.
In his blog, Brittain talks about finding God in Fife, and also pays tribute to a convicted rapist, describing how his cell “seemed imbued with the pleasant spirit” he had created.
In another post he said: “I got a voice in the head telling me that I was the devil. The voice later told me to stare directly at the sun, which I did for several days.”
He also said prison had been “good for the soul” and had brought him “closer to God”.
The trainee nurse said she is still recovering from the brutal attack and was not told about Brittain’s early release.
“Nobody told me he had been released and I found out through social media,” she said.
The assault left Miss Rolland with a gaping wound on the back of her head which required stitches.
She added: “I have good days and bad days. My hair has grown back but I can still feel the stitches.”
Brittain was sentenced at Glasgow Sheriff Court in December 2015, when a sheriff described him as a “serious danger” to women.
A month before the attack in Glenrothes, he had stalked Ella Durant, who he had met at the University of Greenwich in London before she moved to Glasgow.
He admitted causing her fear or alarm by repeatedly pursuing her, approaching her, following her and publishing a story about stalking her.
