A shamed police officer who launched a ferocious baton attack on a man who had failed to pay a taxi fare has been jailed for two years.
The assault carried out by Ronald MacBrayne was so vicious one of his colleagues had to hit him to get him to stop.
The former constable then fabricated a story claiming his victim had punched and kicked him and struggled with other officers.
The shocking incident – which left Alexander Carson cut and bruised – started in the early hours of the morning after MacBrayne and three colleagues discovered four men who had left a taxi without paying in Taynuilt.
Fiscal Eoin McGinty told Oban Sheriff Court yesterday that as they were being taken back to the port to pay their fare, MacBrayne started behaving strangely and launched the lengthy assault.
The 44-year-old, who was a constable in thew town at the time, appeared for sentence after admitting what Sheriff Ruth Anderson said was “reprehensible” behaviour which undermined the public’s confidence in the force.
His solicitor claimed a series of stressful incidents had affected the married father-of-two’s mental health and could have triggered the violent behaviour.
The long-serving constable, from a family of police officers, admitted assaulting 22-year-old Mr Carson by seizing hold of his clothing, forcibly removing him from a police vehicle, repeatedly striking him on the legs and body with a baton and standing on his leg, all to his injury.
He also admitted leaning against Mr Carson, striking his head against a door frame and forcing his head down with a baton to his injury, while in a police vehicle.
MacBrayne, formerly of Glencoe, Tralee, Benderloch, near Oban, but now living at Peurto Ventura in the Canary Islands, also admitted filing a false crime report against Mr Carson in an attempt to pervert justice.
In it, he claimed his victim became abusive and aggressive, punched and kicked him, tried to escape and struggled with three other officers.
MacBrayne’s agent, solicitor Ian Moir, said: “My client had a long history of exemplary police service and comes from a family who have given service over many decades to that line of work.
“It is not lost on him the impact on the force of him sitting here today.
“He is very much ashamed of his actions and bitterly regrets the situation he has put himself in, and has put the reputation of the police in.”
He said MacBrayne had been involved in a number of traumatic incidents at work which affected his mental health.
The lawyer claimed MacBrayne had sought help from his GP and his employer, which was not forthcoming.
He added that shortly before the incident, MacBrayne had been in a siege situation in which a knife was brandished at him.
But Mr Moir added: “He in no way seeks to avoid responsibility for his actions.
“He apologises to those involved and to the wider community who expect police officers not to behave in this fashion.”
Sheriff Anderson said: “This was a protracted assault in two parts with use of your police baton and was of such a sustained nature that one of your fellow officers had to strike you to bring the first part of the assault to an end.
“Your reprehensible behaviour culminated in your completion of a report of this incident that was completely false.
“By naming your fellow officers in this fabrication of events you tried to draw them into your attempt to pervert the court of justice.
“The courts are only too aware of the challenges faced by police officers, particularly when dealing with drunken and violent behaviour.
“Alexander Carson was neither drunk nor violent.
“Why you behaved the way you did, perhaps only you can know.
“You rightly recognise the public must have confidence in the police.
“This is especially important in a police jurisdiction such as this where officers live and bring up families and where they are known personally to many members of the public, both those who abide by the law and those who do not.
“Your behaviour undermines that confidence and, just as importantly, co-operation.”
