An Arbroath man who kicked a man so hard he left the imprint of his trainer on his victim’s face has narrowly avoided a custodial sentence.
Scott Matthews (20), of Parkview Gardens, was sentenced to a nine-month restriction of liberty order for a brutal assault that left a man unconscious in Arbroath last August.
Sheriff Peter Paterson warned the sentence for the beating was a direct alternative to a custodial sentence, and also imposed a compensation order of £500 to be paid to his victim.
Matthews had initially appeared on a petition alleging attempted murder before pleading guilty to an indictment of assault to severe injury.
He admitted that on August 27 at Brothock Bridge he assaulted a man and butted him on the head; seized him by the body; repeatedly punched him on the head and body; seized him by the neck and pulled him to the ground; stamped on his head; and kicked him on the head whereby he struck his head against a wall and was rendered unconscious, all to his severe injury.
Police identified Matthews from the CCTV footage following the Saturday night attack.
Matthews’ trainers were also taken by police, and forensic scientists concluded that the patterns on the sole were similar to a series of parallel lines left on the victim’s left cheek.
The victim suffered a laceration to the back of his head which was glued, a cut to the left side of his head, bruising to his left eye socket and a broken jaw leaving him unable to eat anything but soup for around eight weeks.
On Tuesday, defence agent Nick Markowski said the offence had taken place while Matthews and his victim had been under the influence of alcohol.
He said: ”My client had gone out with friends at around 2pm. He saw the complainer between 10pm and 11pm at night and he was also intoxicated.
”The complainer had allegedly assaulted the accused’s cousin. Words were exchanged in the pub and both men went outside.
”I understand that the complainer did not require surgery on his fractured jaw,” he added.
Sheriff Paterson said he would take account of favourable background reports on Matthews.
He said: ”There is no doubt that an assault of this nature warrants a custodial sentence. The reason I’m not imposing a custodial sentence is because of a favourable report and the fact that you have a job.
”I’m going to impose a restriction of liberty order, which means you have to reside at your home from 5pm to 5am every day, including weekends, for a period of nine months. In addition, I’m going to impose a compensation order of £500.”
He warned: ”If there is a breach of the restriction of liberty order that comes back to court, then the court will have no alternative to a custodial sentence.”