A young man whose friends beat a council worker to death in a park at his behest has been given a community sentence for a separate nightclub assault.
Alexander Kindred, 22, of Glenturret Terrace, Perth, was aged 15 when he claimed Jim Kerr had “tried it on” with him.
Kindred phoned two friends, David Meehan, then aged 19, and Martin Soutar, who both assaulted Mr Kerr so severely that he died.
Kindred was sentenced to 12 months detention in 2007, while Meehan was jailed for life after admitting murder and Soutar received six years for culpable homicide.
On Wednesday, Kindred was ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work after previously being found guilty after trial of assaulting a man at The Loft nightclub, South Street, Perth, on September 6 last year, by kicking his victim on the body.
Depute fiscal Carol Whyte told the court that the nightclub incident took place near closing time.
“At around 2am, a doorman asked Kindred to leave the club and he was being escorted out,” she said.
“Both of his arms were being held behind his back but when he passed a man dressed in a white shirt he kicked this person.
“This man had been standing near a set of stairs. It’s not clear if the accused thought this man was working at the club.”
Solicitor Jamie Baxter, defending, said his client had been at a party until around midnight and then the group went to The Loft nightclub.
“My client was refused a drink and this led to him being asked to leave. Both his arms were being held behind his back and he saw this man coming up the stairs and lashed out at him,” the solicitor told the court.
Mr Baxter said his client had a “serious conviction” for the homophobic assault in 2007, when he was aged 15, which he will “have for the rest of his life”. He added: “My client served detention for this, with the other boys’ actions leading to the death of this man.”