A raver has been cleared of hitting a fellow clubber with a glass bottle because his prosthetic leg would have made it too difficult on the slippery Perth nightclub floor.
Ronan Hunter kicked and punched into his victim as he lay on the dancefloor during a “rammy” in the city’s Ice Factory.
The 20-year-old was found guilty after trial at Perth Sheriff Court of assaulting Lleyton Simpson to his injury in the early hours of March 23 this year.
But he was cleared of attacking his victim with a glass bottle after a sheriff ruled it would have been a tricky manoeuvre for him.
Hunter has been ordered to pay compensation to his victim.
Alcohol-fuelled
Sheriff William Wood said: “Clearly this was something of a rammy in a nightclub and it is clear there was a substantial amount of drink taken on all sides.
“I do accept the evidence that Mr Hunter punched Mr Simpson first and thereafter perpetrated the assault – with one exception in relation to the glass bottle.
“We heard that Mr Hunter and Mr Simpson were rolling about on the floor, before Mr Hunter got up, picked up the bottle and threw it at Mr Simpson.
“There is a doubt in my mind given Mr Hunter has a prosthetic leg.
“It must have been difficult on a slippery dancefloor to have perpetrated that particular part of the complaint.”
He found Hunter guilty of assaulting Mr Simpson by repeatedly punching him on the head and knocking him to the floor and then while acting with others, repeatedly kicking and punching him on the head to his injury.
The sheriff told Hunter: “This is a lesson in what happens when you don’t behave in nightclubs.
“Things don’t have to get out of hand. You can simply step back instead of stepping forward.”
Hunter, of Balgair Street, Glasgow, was fined £300 and ordered to pay £400 compensation to Mr Simpson.
Altercation at the bar
The court heard how two groups of friends clashed at the bar when one of Hunter’s group was accused of “behaving inappropriately” towards a woman.
Hunter told his trial he was at the club “for a rave” and said he was drunk on vodka by about 1am, when the altercation happened.
He said: “An argument started and there was a fight on the dancefloor.”
Asked who started the fight, he said: “The other boys.”
He said he punched Mr Simpson but only in self-defence.
Hunter said his prosthetic leg would have made it hard for him to pick up the bottle from the ground, as one witness had suggested.
The attack happened during a headline set by up-and-coming Irish DJ Fionn Curran.
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