A man was cleared of assault yesterday after his alleged victim told a court he not remember how he had been injured.
Salius Erminas had been accused of attacking his stepson Jevgenijs Spelnikovs over an argument about the volume of music.
The 50-year-old, of 100 Longate, Peterhead, denied assaulting Mr Spelnikovs at an address in Merchant Street, Peterhead, on July 19, 2013.
And yesterday the case against him collapsed, when Mr Spelnikovs said he had consumed “about 15 cans of beer” that night and could not remember what happened or why.
Through an interpreter, the 27-year-old told the court he had been drinking in the afternoon and playing music loudly in his bedroom when Erminas knocked on his door and asked him to turn it down.
His interpreter said: “It was very polite – a quiet knocking at the door. He doesn’t remember how it started, exactly. He only remembers at the hospital.
“His stepfather came to his room and asked him to put the music down. He is not sure if he was agreed to turning down the music. There is some arguing between them, but he can’t remember what about exactly because he was quite drunk.
“He doesn’t remember anything. It was quite a long time ago this happened – a whole two years. He probably didn’t want to turn it down.”
When defence agent Marieanne Milligan suggested to Mr Spelnikovs that he had simply been pushed back by Erminas and had fallen over as a result, his interpreter added: “Maybe. But he doesn’t remember.”
After hearing the evidence, fiscal depute Cheryl Clark said she would not be pursuing the charge.
Although Eminas was acquitted of the charge, he did admit breaching his bail order by visiting the property in Merchant Street, and failing to appear at an earlier court hearing. He was fined £280 for the two offences.
