A father has been warned he is “perilously close to prison” after a drunken festive family get-together ended with him punching his brother and being hit with vodka bottle.
Liam Smith had been visiting relatives in Bucksburn to celebrate Christmas, but things quickly escalated when he damaged a bathroom door.
It sparked the row that led to the 30-year-old throwing punches at his sibling until another family member intervened – hitting Smith over the head with a vodka bottle.
Fiscal depute Andrew McMann told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “Witnesses and the accused were at the locus drinking and socialising for Christmas.
‘Everything was going fine for a while’
“An argument took place between the accused and those within the address, including the complainer, his brother.”
During the row, the pair went outside and Smith began to “repeatedly punch” his brother to the head, leaving him with a swollen and bleeding nose.
Smith, of Great Northern Road, Aberdeen, pled guilty to a charge of assault to injury.
Defence agent Chris Maitland said: “This was a family get-together for Christmas. Everybody had been drinking and everything was going fine for a while.
‘You are as perilously close to prison as I think anyone can get’
“There came a point where Mr Smith’s partner had too much to drink and was in the bathroom.
“He was checking on her and forced the door open, breaking it.”
An argument broke out about the broken door and the brothers ended up in a physical altercation.
Mr Maitland said: “It was ended when another family member hit Mr Smith on the head with a bottle of vodka.”
Sheriff Rory Bannerman warned Smith: “You have an unenviable record. You have served a period of imprisonment.
“I note you committed assaults in 2008, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021.
“You are as perilously close to prison as I think anyone can get in these circumstances.”
He deferred the sentence until next month for reports to be prepared.
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