A man who brutally assaulted a north-east boy has been sentenced again – because he was deemed too sick to carry out community service.
Social workers called for Iain Reid to be brought back to court after he struggled to make inroads into his original order of 150 hours of unpaid work.
He reappeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court yesterday and was instead fined £450.
The 35-year-old was convicted of attacking the primary school pupil at a flat in Peterhead earlier this year.
His victim, who gave evidence via a video link, told the town’s court he was “strangled” by Reid, picked up by the throat and thrown into a room.
He said he had been making a phone call in a flat, on the edge of the town centre, in July last year when Reid walked in.
“He took the phone off me,” the boy told the court. “I thought he was going to strangle me – and that’s what he did. He looked fierce.”
Sheriff Lorna Drummond said that, despite some discrepancies, she believed the youngster’s account and found Reid guilty of seizing the boy by the neck, pushing him from one room to another while holding him by the neck and throwing him to the ground.
He was also convicted of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm by shouting, swearing, making threats and kicking a door at another Peterhead property in August.
Reid returned to Peterhead Sheriff Court to be re-sentenced after social workers said he was unable to complete his community service order.
Defence agent Garry Sturrock said Reid, whose address was given in court as 55 Liddle Drive, Bo’ness, has substantial health problems which prevented him carrying out the work. It is understood he has long-standing heart problems.
Agreeing to revoke the order and impose a £450 fine instead, Sheriff Andrew Miller said he had considered Reid’s “lengthy” criminal record, but noted that it was mostly made up of road traffic matters and crimes of dishonesty.
