A man’s violent breakfast-time assault outside a chemist left his victim missing a tooth, a court has heard.
Alexander Cowie waited for his victim to leave Rothes Pharmacy then assaulted him in the car park.
Elgin Sheriff Court was told the attack spawned from an ongoing disagreement with victim.
Fiscal depute Shamielah Ghafar described the circumstances of the May 2021 incident, which was witnessed by members of the public.
Waited for victim in car park
The court heard Cowie, 32, waited in a car at the side of Bouncer’s Lane in Rothes at 9am until his victim left the High Street pharmacy.
The fiscal said: “He then got out of the car and shouted ‘What you coming down to the door for yesterday?’
“Things got heated between the two and witnesses who heard shouting alerted pharmacy staff.
“The accused was then seen to punch the man with a closed fist towards his face making direct contact with his mouth.
“The witness sustained an injury to his nose which was actively bleeding, a tooth that had been knocked out and a cut that was bleeding.”
Cowie’s defence agent Stephen Carty said his client got involved after his victim had had some sort of altercation with a female acquaintance of his.
‘He has settled down’
“He sought to get involved by striking the complainer and that’s a matter of regret for him,” the solicitor said. “He fully appreciates he should have handled it much better than he did.
“He has settled down somewhat with his partner, he is in employment and they work together. His outlook on life is extremely positive and his presentation today is as good as it has ever been.”
Cowie, of Merson Street, Buckie, admitted two charges of assault and one breach of bail.
One of those assaults was on a woman in April 2020. Drunken Cowie was “jealous about something” and punched her on the head, causing her to fall to the ground at a home in Provost Christie Drive, Rothes.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov noted he was already on a community payback order and added 120 hours of unpaid work to that plus an 80-day nighttime curfew.
For all the latest court cases in Elgin as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our new Facebook group.
