A man who kicked a 16-year-old boy in the head after punching him and throwing the teenager to the ground has been spared jail.
Steven Shepherd, 24, assaulted his victim on Dingwall’s Newton Road when he learned who the youngster’s older brother was.
The violent attack on February 19 of this year was stopped by police officers who were passing by and chased Shepherd into Pefferside Park.
Fiscal depute Shay Trainor told Inverness Sheriff Court that the offender then became “volatile and aggressive”.
He resisted arrest and struggled with the officers when they told him his rucksack was going to be searched for drugs.
Police found a grinder containing a “herbal substance” which later tested positive for trace amounts of herbal cannabis.
‘Fortunate it wasn’t more serious’
Shepherd’s victim had suffered soreness to his head as a result of the kicking that the fiscal depute said was done “with force”.
Solicitor Rory Gowans explained that his client was “intoxicated” at the time and was “disgusted with himself”.
Mr Gowans said: “He was intoxicated. He had been drinking and he’d taken illegal substances. His recollection is effectively nil.
“He is very fortunate that it wasn’t more serious.
“He is very clear about how much he bitterly regrets what he did on the day in question.”
Shepherd appeared for sentencing after pleading guilty to charges of assault to injury, threatening or abusive behaviour, obstructing a drugs search and possession of a class B drug.
‘If you were older, I would be sending you to jail’
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald handed him a community payback order with 18 months of supervision and 180 hours of unpaid work.
“You are now 24. You are what the law considers to be a young person, still…just,” she told Shepherd.
“You are not as young as the 16-year-old boy you assaulted and caused injury to.
“This is disgraceful behaviour, if you were older than 25 I would be sending you to jail today.”
