A teenager has avoided a custodial sentence after he carried out a brutal broom handle assault on a female police officer that left her with permanent injuries.
Kai Gair, who was 16 at the time, repeatedly struck the constable across the head at a house in the Sandwick area of the Shetland’s mainland.
The officer – who was rushed to hospital by ambulance following the attack – has been left with a permanent bald spot as a result of scarring from the assault.
His solicitor described Gair, now 18, as a “troubled young man” who “knows he’s done wrong”.
Officer struggled to control ‘volatile situation’
Fiscal depute Rebecca Thompson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that in the early hours of June 10 2021, police attended at an address on Central Park, Sandwick, after a complaint about loud music.
When the police knocked on the door they received no response but did hear someone from inside telling them to “f*** off”.
“The officers then opened the unlocked door and were confronted by the young person within the house,” Ms Thompson said.
Threats were made towards the officers by some members of the Gair family and the situation “escalated”, causing the female officer to request backup.
“During the 20 minutes or more that it took for an additional officer to arrive, the two police officers present struggled to keep control of the volatile situation,” the fiscal told the court.
As the third officer arrived, they went to arrest Gair’s father when Kai Gair struck the female officer three times to the head with a wooden broom handle.
Ms Thompson said: “These were targeted, forceful blows and caused the officer agonising pain.
“She began to stagger and was bleeding profusely.
“The accused, Kai Gair, then stuck a male officer on the head with the broom handle and aimed a second blow at his head, which he was able to block with his hands and wrestle the broom handle away.”
As Gair was taken to Lerwick Police Station, the female officer was rushed by ambulance to Lerwick’s Gilbert Bain Hospital.
The police officer, who was 24 at the time of the attack, suffered a Y-shaped laceration to her head which left her with permanent scarring and a bald spot in her hair.
She also suffered episodes of dizziness, disturbed sleep and balance problems for months after the assault.
The court heard that this incident involving Gair took up the entire complement of police officers that night and that no further assistance could have been obtained.
Gair, who now lives in Lochgelly, Fife, pleaded guilty to two charges of assault and one of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
‘No justification for it at all’
Defence solicitor Gregor Kelly told the court that his client wanted to “extend an apology” to the two officers involved that night.
“No one expects to go on duty and respond to calls to be assaulted,” Mr Kelly said, adding: “There’s no justification for it at all.”
He said Gair woke up to find his father being “manhandled” by police and “took matters into his own hands”.
“Mr Gair 100% understands that to assault the two officers was his decision and he takes full responsibility,” he said.
“He’s a troubled young man but he knows he’s done wrong and should be punished.”
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin told Gair that these types of offences can “easily lead to a custodial sentence”.
But she added that she was required to have regard to rehabilitation as a primary consideration when sentencing people under 25.
As an alternative to a custodial sentence, Sheriff McLaughlin made Gair subject to a community payback order with supervision for two years.
She also put a restriction of liberty order in place meaning Gair will need to wear an electronic tag for nine months.
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