A Cupar man who went to a barbecue armed with a hammer and later punched a man has been jailed for 270 days.
Kane McGuire (35), of Railway Place, admitted carrying out the assault on the man at Sandyhill Road, St Andrews, on May 26.
In a separate incident, he also pleaded guilty to violently assaulting a woman on June 15 by seizing her by the throat and repeatedly punching her at an address in Wallace Street, St Andrews. The attack happened while he was on bail.
The court heard the incident involving the hammer ocurred after McGuire, who had attended the barbecue in the afternoon, decided to return after drinking in pubs in St Andrews.
The Crown said he was seen to ”grab” the hammer, which was hidden in weeds in his front garden before making his way to the barbecue.
Fearful of what he might do, a friend contacted the woman who was having the barbecue to warn her and when they got there she was standing at the front door.
At that point McGuire produced the hammer from his pocket then turned on his friend, swearing at him and then pushed him to the ground and began punching him on the head.
Witnesses managed to get him off the man and confiscated the hammer.
With regard to the incident in which McGuire assaulted a woman, the court heard McGuire had been drinking alcohol with the complainer and a third person when an argument broke out.
The Crown said: ”He punched her hard on the face with a fist, knocking her off the couch and on to the floor. He then picked her up by the throat, pinned her against the living room wall and punched her again to the face which caused her nose to start bleeding heavily.”
The woman sustained various injuries, including reddening to the neck, a bloody nose, bruising and a one-inch abrasion to the left side of her head.
Defence solicitor David Bell urged the sheriff to consider an alternative to jail given that his client’s last assault conviction was in 2007.
Sheriff Mcnair said there could be no alternative, however, because McGuire’s record included five assaults.
”You had consumed alcohol all day and for some reason, because of some dispute you had with people, you obtained a hammer,” he said.
”The hammer was taken for the purpose of aggression and as a result of your friend’s attempt to avoid trouble you assaulted him.
”With regard to the other complaint, this was a nasty assault, again carried out after too much alcohol.”