A man bit off part of an adversary’s ear as shopkeepers in a tourist town – including a florist with a broom – tried to separate the two foes, when a months-long feud boiled over into violence in the main square, a court heard yesterday.
Kurt Scott, 25, pulled Graeme Baird out of the driver’s seat of his van, poked him in the eye, and chewed off a 3cm chunk of his right earlobe, which he spat on to the tarmac.
The incident, in historic Cross Street, Callander, was sparked after Mr Baird, 34, drew a finger across his throat after spotting Scott and Scott’s father on their way to the butcher in the Perthshire town.
Stirling Sheriff Court was told there had been a history of animosity between the two after a party several months earlier, and Scott had repeatedly tried to defuse the situation with conciliatory texts.
But Mr Baird just replied: “Are we sound? No, you’re getting it.”
Scott, a first offender, of Camp Place, Callander, pled guilty to assaulting Mr Baird, under provocation, to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Deferring sentence until September 11 for reports and continuing bail, Sheriff Wyllie Robertson warned Scott that custody was “at the forefront of the court’s consideration”.
