Two men who chased a child with metal poles in a case of mistaken identity were in a state of “intoxicated” confusion.
Michael Morrice and Gavin Reid ran after the 14-year-old boy in Torry after wrongly thinking he and his pals had been in a fight earlier in the day.
It was a case of mistaken identity – but the pair didn’t realise that until after they had terrified the group of teens on May 30 last year.
The youngsters had been hanging around outside Keystore convenience shop on Grampian Road before the unprovoked altercation happened, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
‘They began to shout at the boy’
Fiscal depute Christy Ward said: “A witness in his parked car saw the boy and his friends outside the store then saw three men including the two accused exit a block of flats on Grampian Road.
“They were heavily intoxicated at the time and were in possession of metal poles.
“They began to shout at the boy and his friends and accused them of being involved in a fight with friends earlier that day.”
She said Reid, 35, was waving his pole around and the pair initially walked away along Grampian Road with poles aloft and “looking for a fight” before they returned to where the group of teens still stood.
“The boy and his friends tried to plead their innocence as they had no knowledge of any fight,” the fiscal added.
“But a short time later the pair returned still in possession of the poles and began waving them in the air.”
At this point Morrice, 43, “lunged” towards the 14-year-old boy and punched him in the face, the court heard.
The assault was stopped in its tracks thanks to the male witness who was still in his car and who got out to stop any further violence.
Police were contacted and the pair were traced at Reid’s flat in Grampian Road.
“The boy suffered redness and swelling to his cheek,” the fiscal added.
Morrice pleaded guilty to charges of being in possession of an offensive weapon, acting in a threatening or abusive manner and assaulting a child to his injury.
His defence agent Iain Hingston said Morrice suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and for the last three years has been trying to “escape” a traumatic scene he witnessed.
He said CCTV footage of the incident showed it was a “weak assault”.
“He has done wrong and to his great credit he pled guilty at an intermediate diet,” Mr Hingston added. “He has been out of trouble for some time.”
Reid, meanwhile, admitted two charges of being in possession of an offensive weapon and acting in a threatening or abusive manner by brandishing a pole.
His defence agent Kevin Longino said: “My client and his friends had earlier been victims of an attack by people unknown.
“In the cold light of day, he knows the complainer had nothing whatsoever to do with that.
“But at the time, under the influence of the medication referred to in the report, he was in a state of intoxicated confusion and pain and he reacted the way that he did.
“He makes no suggestion now that these people had anything to do with the attack. There was an assumption made and he acted upon that.”
‘Could have ended a lot worse’
Sheriff Lesley Johnston told both men: “This is a serious matter and I think you have both acknowledged that it would have ended a lot worse for the complainer than it did.”
She ordered Morrice, of Baker Street, Aberdeen, to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work and to be under supervision for 18 months.
Reid, of Grampian Road, Aberdeen, was handed a six-month supervision order and warned given his “healthy record and previous convictions” custody could have been an option.
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