A post-funeral assault which was sparked by a row over a game of pool has landed a man with 10 months behind bars.
Patrick Stewart, described by his solicitor as “a man who shouldn’t drink”, punched his victim in the face during the unprovoked assault at the Victoria Bar in Elgin.
He had gone there for drinks with family following a funeral on Feburary 8 this year, the town’s sheriff court was told.
But after Stewart’s brother became embroiled in an argument with the other man, Stewart waded in and carried out the assault.
Flipped after pool game at Elgin pub
Fiscal depute Shamielah Ghafar said Stewart’s victim had gone to the High Street pub around 3.30pm to meet friends but observed half a dozen people enter at 5pm who he was told were the “Stewart family”.
“One of the group, the accused, became animated and loud, and whilst at the pool table he immediately punched out and struck the complainer once to the left side of his face close to his eye,” she said. “This caused a small cut and police were contacted.”
Officers spoke to Stewart’s family outside the bar and later traced him at home where he was cautioned and charged.
Called police ‘paedophiles’
On a separate occasion, just over a month later on March 19 this year, Stewart was lifted by police after an incident in which someone insulted his autistic son. When police arrived, Stewart “felt the wrong person was being arrested and lost his cool”.
During a 40-minute tirade he called officers “paedophiles”, made various threats to “knock them out” and kicked one officer in the leg.
He admitted charges of assault to injury, resisting arrest and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
Explaining the pub assault, defence agent David Patterson said: “Both persons were getting a bit heated about this game of pool.
“Mr Stewart’s position is that while he is the one who threw the punch there was a bit of backwards and forwards between them and the complainer tried to punch him.
“I think it was unprovoked but it was not as simplistic as Mr Stewart seeing someone across the bar and walking up to him and punching him on the face.”
‘This is a man who shouldn’t drink’
He further explained that Stewart had initially walked away following the game but got invoked physically when his former opponent argued with his brother.
“He got involved just as he chose to go to the pub when he knows he shouldn’t have,” the solicitor added. “This is a man who shouldn’t drink.”
With regards to the police incident, the solicitor said Stewart had acted “impulsively” and “lost his cool”.
Been held in jail since March
The court heard Stewart, who had been on remand at HMP Inverness for other matters since March, would best serve the public interest if he was at liberty.
He’s already serving five community payback orders, including one for threatening to kill his partner and her granny, he’s been told his time at liberty may soon be up.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov told Stewart, a prisoner of HMP Inverness, that: “It’s not a short-term solution but a long-term one that’s required in protecting the public and keeping you out of the court and it’s for that reason I will allow the community payback order to continue.”
However, she also jailed him for 10 months backdated to March.
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