A teen who taped a disabled man to his mobility scooter has avoided custody – but has been ordered to surrender his passport until he’s completed his unpaid work.
Callum Swaffield, along with Calvin Gallon, 23, targeted John Tweed, 58, when he got onto his scooter for some fresh air outside his home in Macduff.
The pair threw a bed sheet over him and tightly wrapped brown parcel tape around the helpless man’s head and body, leaving him trapped.
The pair tried to spell the words “I am a paedo” by sticking pieces of brown tape onto the bed sheet and Gallon later told police that it was all “a bit of a laugh”.
Gallon was previously jailed over the matter after admitting a string of offences, but sentencing on Swaffield, 18, was deferred for reports.
Now the teen has appeared back in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, where solicitor David Sutherland explained he planned to move to Canada with family once the matter was behind him.
Mr Sutherland asked for Swaffield to be spared custody and handed a community-based order instead.
‘You won’t be able to disappear off to Canada’
He said: “He will delay his return to Canada until that order is finished.
“I appreciate there will be concerns about him remaining to complete the order.
“He says he will carry out a community-based disposal and will delay his return to Canada until that is complete.”
Swaffield, whose address was given in court papers as Alvah, Banff, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by covering Tweed with a bed sheet and securing him with tape to prevent his escape.
Tweed previously spoke to The Press and Journal about the horrific experience.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin told Swaffield: “You only appear on one charge, have little record and are much younger.
“For those reasons, I can distinguish between you and your co-accused.
“I was seriously considering a custodial sentence nevertheless.
‘Maybe he’ll think about changing his ways’
“It felt to me, from the report, you still don’t appreciate the seriousness of this offence.”
The sheriff imposed a 15-month supervision order, 150 hours of unpaid work and a two-year non-harassment order.
She also imposed a conduct requirement for Swaffield to surrender his passport within 48 hours until the end of the order.
Sheriff McLaughlin added: “You won’t be able to disappear off to Canada until you have completed the order.”
Reacting to Swaffield’s sentence, Tweed said he felt justice had not been done, but hoped the teen had learned not to be a “bad boy” anymore.
He said: “He’s only a young lad under the instruction of Calvin Gallon. He’s a follower. He only does as he’s told.
“It will teach him not to be a bad boy anymore – 150 hours of unpaid work – maybe that will keep him on the straight and narrow.
“Maybe he’ll think about changing his ways.
“But I don’t really feel like justice has been done for me.”
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