A man had to have a titanium plate inserted into his jaw after being set upon by a group of youths he’d teased about their hair.
The male had approached a group of teens on the roof garden of the St Nicholas Centre before teasing and goading them.
Despite onlookers’ efforts to calm the situation down, the incident escalated until two of the teens, who cannot be named due to their age, rained kicks, stamps and punches on the man as he lay on the ground.
Two 17-year-old boys admitted assaulting the man by repeatedly punching and kicking him to the head and body.
They also chased him, punched him on the head causing him to fall down and then kicked and stamped on his head and body while he lay on the ground, all to his severe injury.
Meanwhile, a third teen, Cian Galbraith, 19, admitted assaulting the man by punching him on the body, punching him on the head, kicking him on the head and holding him while someone else punched him, all to his severe injury.
Fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened at 8.35pm on Saturday, July 3 last year.
She said: “The complainer and two others approached a male and began to tease him about his hair.
“One of the complainer’s friends and said male proceeded to go head-to-head in a confrontation.
Complainer was ‘pumping his arms and dancing’
“A group of youths, including the accused, approached and the complainer began talking to accused A.”
Accused A stepped back as the victim “puffed out his chest” and attempted to headbutt him
The victim’s friend then pushed him away, but he too got into an altercation with accused A, grabbing the teen in a headlock and taking him to the ground.
The victim then kicked the teen in the head before he managed to break away.
Ms MacVicar said the man remained within the group, arguing with them, and fell into a planter as he was ushered and pushed away.
The second 17-year-old – accused B – followed the man and accused A “approached him from behind and punched him once to the side of his head”, causing him to stumble onto a bench.
Ms MacVicar said: “The complainer got up and pointed and laughed at accused A before walking away, clapping his hands, and rubbing them together in a jeering manner.”
Galbraith, who did not know the other teens but had been passing and saw the commotion, then approached the complainer “in a calm manner” and spoke to him briefly before being punched in the face.
The 19-year-old punched the man back, which the Crown accepted was in self-defence.
However, the man “continued to goad him” and began “pumping his arms and dancing” as he made his way down the nearby steps.
‘Complainer was most certainly the aggressor’
An unidentified male then ran down the steps and struck the complainer in the face.
Galbraith and accused A then “chased the complainer down the stairs” and Galbraith held him from behind while accused A punched him to the abdomen.
Accused B then punched the man to the back of the head, causing him to fall to the ground.
Both 17-year-old’s then repeatedly kicked and stamped on his head and body.
Passers-by tried to intervene but the 17-year-old “continued to run in and throw punches and kicks” until the complainer eventually managed to get to his feet and ran off down Market Street.
He suffered a broken and displaced jaw which required surgery and the insertion of a titanium plate as a result of the incident.
All three accused were identified from CCTV and later traced and charged.
Defence agent Gail Goodfellow, representing Galbraith, said her client had no previous conviction and did not know any of the parties involved in the incident.
‘Things that might be thought to be almost inexcusable’
She explained he had not been involved in the start or end of the incident but had tried to calm the situation down in the middle.
She said: “When he saw the complainer he said he appeared very drunk and the complainer was most certainly the aggressor.”
Sheriff Graham Buchanan agreed: “If it hadn’t been for the behaviour of the complainer in the first place it’s unlikely an incident of this type would have developed.”
Regarding accused B, represented by solicitor Lynne Freeland, Sheriff Buchanan said: “He took things a good deal further and did things that might be thought to be almost inexcusable.”
He also acknowledged accused B was younger than Galbraith and had “shown remorse”.
The sheriff highlighted that the teen hadn’t sought to blame the victim, “whose fault the whole thing was really”.
Addressing lawyer Sian Grant, representing accused A, Sheriff Buchanan said: “I suppose you could say pretty much the same thing in relation to your client.”
Sheriff Buchanan ordered Galbraith, of North Deeside Road, Cults, to complete 120 hours of unpaid work as an alternative to detention.
He also handed both 17-year-old, both of Aberdeen, 210 hours of unpaid work and a year’s supervision as alternatives to detention.
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