A teenager punched a man unconscious after being challenged over rude remarks to female revellers in Aberdeen city centre.
Shane Flower punched the man so hard during the early hours attack on Union Street that his victim was unconscious before he hit the ground.
The cowardly teenager then ran away from the scene, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
Fiscal depute Lydia Ross said the assault happened at 2am on September 16 last year outside the former JD Sports store.
She said Flower’s victim had not long left a nearby takeaway with two female friends when the disturbance began.
“One of the witnesses noticed a group of youths that she had noticed earlier on Chapel Street,” she said. “They shouted to her asking if she was coming for ‘afters’.
“However she declined and laughed it off.
“At that point, one of the youths shouted over, making a comment about the complainer and two friends going back for a threesome.
“The two friends ignored the youths however the complainer took offence.
Victim called youths out on comment
“He went up to the man who had made the comments and challenged him saying it was an inappropriate way to talk to a woman.
“The group apologised however the complainer wouldn’t let it go, at which point the accused punched him to the face.
“He fell backwards and made no attempt to put his arms out to stop himself at which point he had fallen unconscious.”
The court heard Flower then began to “jump around” before running down Union Street.
Nearby police became aware of the disturbance and saw youths running away, followed by Flower’s victim – who by this time had come to and was running down the street “bleeding substantially” from his facial wound.
Flower, now 18, was traced and cautioned and charged.
Not his first ‘one punch’
It wasn’t the only assault Flower was in the dock for.
Just three months earlier, on June 4, the teenager lashed out at a youth who had been playing football on Northfield playing fields.
His victim approached Flower and his group of friends at 9pm and asked them to stop loitering around the gates there.
Flower punched the youth to the back of his head, causing his “jaws to clench and chip his back left third molar”.
Flower, a first offender, admitted one assault to injury charge and another assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
His defence agent Debbie Ginniver said Flower was a “very vulnerable individual” who struggled with mental health issues and had “difficulty managing his emotions”.
“Both assaults resulted from one punch. This is his first conviction and he has been of good behaviour since,” she said.
Sheriff Robert McDonald told him: “It might just be one punch but you can cause a lot of damage to a person with just one punch.
“It’s fortunate the two victims were not more seriously injured than they were.”
He handed Flower, of St Ternan’s Road, Newtonhill, a one-year supervision order and 109 hours of unpaid work.
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