A Leslie man has been spared a jail term for a violent attack which left a work colleague unconscious at a Christmas night out.
Dugald Grant, 23, was told it was only by luck he was not facing a murder charge after admitting the assault, which left workmate Iain Murray with a fractured eye socket.
Grant, of High Street, admitted assaulting Mr Murray in Townsend Place, Kirkcaldy, on December 20 last year, punching him on the head, holding him in a headlock, pushing him and causing him to fall and repeatedly kicking him on the head and body, rendering him unconscious.
At Dunfermline Sheriff Court, depute fiscal Azrah Yousef said a lot of drink had been consumed during a works night out in Kirkcaldy before the assault.
At around 11.30pm, Mr Murray was going home and this had caused an argument with Grant, who turned down sharing a lift home.
An initial assault took place in a car park after a verbal exchange and when Mr Murray’s wife arrived to pick him up she saw he was bleeding and confronted Grant.
He was “intoxicated and obnoxious to her” said the depute fiscal and then he punched Mr Murray on the back of the head before grabbing him in a headlock.
During the incident, Mr Murray fell to the ground and became unconscious. When police arrived he was unresponsive and was taken to hospital, where his injuries were found to include a fracture to his eye socket.
Sheriff Ian Abercrombie noted Grant had not been in any trouble before or since and commented: “Presumably it’s just the drink”.
However, he told Grant: “This is an offence which would merit a lengthy custodial sentence.”
Instead, as an alternative, he ordered him to pay £1,000 compensation, do 150 hours of unpaid work and be subject to a restriction of liberty order for six months.
Grant will also be under supervision for 18 months as part of a community payback order.
Sheriff Abercrombie said, “You’re jolly fortunate to escape custody today and if I was you I would give consideration as to whether you should drink at all.
“You’re jolly lucky you’re not facing a murder charge. Imagine if he had caught his head going back and you’d killed the man.”