An Aberdeen man has been jailed after hacking open a friend’s leg with a machete over a missing £600.
Dad-of-two Adam Oakes, known as Roberts, “blacked out with fury” when he launched the attack on friend Connor Watt on June 17.
The 29-year-old plasterer later claimed he had “chopped up a kid’s leg like Rambo”.
Mr Watt had been accused of stealing the cash, which had been left in a bag during a party, during a party at a third man’s flat on North Anderson Drive.
But he denied the theft and said he was unsure where the money had gone, offering to help find it again.
Hearing this, Roberts became aggressive and picked up a machete lying on a nearby bed.
After pointing it at his 22-year-old victim’s face, Roberts swung the blade and hacked at the man’s knee and foot – leaving him in hospital for four days.
He admitted the attack at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last month and returned yesterday, via video-link, for sentencing.
Solicitor Graham Morrison said: “He attended the house and demanded his money, and it became very, very heated.
“He was making threats because his money was not being returned to him and used the knife to back up the threat.
“A remark was made that tipped him over the edge.”
Mr Morrison described Roberts as a court “regular,” adding his rate of offending had slowed in recent years.
“He has had time to reflect on his actions,” he added.
Sheriff Graham Buchanan said the attack was “extremely, extremely brutal” and considered referring the matter to the High Court, so it could impose a prison sentence of longer than five years.
He said: “The complainer has suffered very substantial physical and psychological harm.
“It is clear that, such is the gravity of the crime you committed, the only appropriate disposal is a substantial period of imprisonment.”
Roberts, of HMP Grampian, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years behind bars, with a two year supervised release order following.
