An ex-soldier who was part of an assault on an ambulance worker in a nightclub has narrowly avoided jail.
Ross Stewart, 27, was at the Waterfront club in Wick when he struck victim Alistair Green, the town’s sheriff court heard yesterday.
Witnesses said another man was involved in the attack, but has never been identified.
Mr Green, who was on a work night out, ended up with a double fracture of the face.
Stewart, a quarryman from Bilbster, was handed a six-month restriction of liberty order and ordered to pay his victim compensation of £500.
The court heard Mr Green remembered nothing of the incident which occurred in a toilet during a Christmas night-out on December 17, 2017.
Fiscal David Barclay said Mr Green recalled arriving at the nightspot and being on the dance floor but added that his next recollection was waking up in hospital.
Stewart claimed to have only struck Mr Green once, but other patrons spoke to him having been repeatedly punched by two men – one of them the accused – and falling to the floor of the toilet.
One of Mr Green’s work colleagues intervened and the two assailants left the toilet area.
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Mr Green, who is in his 40s, was admitted to Caithness General Hospital around 2.15am and was initially treated for a cut to the left side of his head and bruising around his right eye and nose.
Mr Barclay said: “It was noticed that there was tenderness on the left side of Mr Green’s jaw and a CT scan revealed a nasal fracture. He was kept in hospital overnight and discharged in the morning. However, Mr Green returned to Caithness General on December 18, complaining of continuing pain in his jaw and a second CT scan revealed a fracture at the base of the jaw, on the left-hand side of his face.”
He was able to return to work a month later, fully recovered.
Solicitor George Mathers claimed Stewart – whose partner is expecting a baby in November – had been provoked.
Mr Mathers explained: “He walked into the toilet and got whacked in the face and simply spontaneously and instinctively lashed out, immediately regretting what he had done.”
The solicitor stressed that despite Stewart having admitted on indictment repeatedly punching Mr Green, he had only hit him once, but conceded that the two assailants had “acted in concert”.
Sheriff Andrew Berry, who saw a background report, said he had been persuaded – “just” – not to impose a custodial sentence.
An electronic tag will confine Stewart to his home between the hours of 7pm and 6am for a six-month period.
