A pensioner was dragged across the floor and kicked in the chest after getting drunk at a bowling club, Elgin Sheriff Court heard yesterday.
Fiscal depute Shona Duncan told the court it was normal practice for Grant Park Bowling Club members to have a meal together after a match.
She said a lot of alcohol had been consumed at a dinner in the club pavilion at Forres on October 5 last year and James Sutherland fell over when he stood up.
The court heard that Charles Martin, 68, of 13 Grant Road, Forres, told Mr Sutherland to get up before swearing at him and grabbing hold of his heels.
Martin, who is younger than his victim, was not in court but pleaded guilty through his solicitor to assaulting Mr Sutherland.
Miss Duncan said Martin had kicked the man on the chest and the back and dragged him outside on to the pavilion’s paving stones before going back inside.
She said: “Mr Sutherland’s daughter was contacted and, when she arrived, she saw her father lying unconscious on the ground. She took him home and put him to bed but, when he awoke during the night, he had no memory of what had happened to him.
“He had a pain in his chest and his back and, later that morning, his daughter took him to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin for a check-up.”
Mr Sutherland, who had three abrasions on his chest and a tenderness on the spine, was admitted for observation after a doctor examined him and said he believed the injuries were not from a fall.
Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood called for background reports on Martin before sentencing him, saying it was “not exactly a minor assault”.
Speaking about the victim, the sheriff said: “He was left out on an October night, drunk and unconscious.”
Martin will be sentenced on March 16.