An ex-fisherman who sucker-punched a female police officer outside a Peterhead nightclub has been ordered to carry out unpaid work.
Bannor Masson left the woman scarred after he approached her from behind on the town’s Queen Street and punched her in the face at 1.30am on December 5 last year.
The cowardly 26-year-old then legged it, while his victim was left with a 1.5cm gash on her nose which had to be closed using surgical glue.
Masson previously pled guilty to a charge of assault to injury and permanent disfigurement.
Sentence had been deferred for reports, but he has now appeared back in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to learn his fate.
‘He’d sought solace in alcohol’
Defence agent Sam Milligan said his client, a former fisherman, now worked in retail.
The solicitor accepted Masson had a record but described it as “relatively modest”.
He said: “It’s clear that at the material time Mr Masson was in perhaps a challenging time in his life.
“He’d sought solace in alcohol in relation to dealing with these matters.”
Mr Milligan explained Masson’s anger had been directed at the people the police officer was speaking to and he was remorseful.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin said a court-ordered social work report was “positive”.
She told Masson, of Mormond Avenue, Fraserburgh: “You have potential. You’re a clever young man.
“You did well in your exams at school. You have potential to get out of the offending cycle.”
As an alternative to a custodial sentence, Sheriff McLaughlin imposed an 18-month supervision order, 100 hours of unpaid work and a six-month curfew.
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