Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Keith man attacked pub customer with a pool cue

Elgin Sheriff Court
Elgin Sheriff Court.

A man who tried to goad people into fighting with him in a Moray pub then attacked another customer with a pool cue narrowly avoided jail yesterday.

Padraig Cafferkey admitted threatening and abusing fellow drinkers in Keith’s Commercial Hotel in an attempt to incite them into fighting him on September 29 last year.

The 26-year-old, of 24 Edinburgh Road, Keith, also admitted lashing out at Ian Mitchell during the same evening — hitting him on the head and body with a pool cue.

At Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday, solicitor James McKay said Cafferkey was “realistic about what options are available to the court”.

Mr McKay said: “There is a severe change to his behaviour generally. He is in a stable relationship with his partner and child and is in employment, earning about £210 a week.

“Drink was his downfall in this incident, but he has nearly stopped drinking alcohol altogether.

“Obviously a custodial sentence will bring his job to an end and it will mean he does not get to make his contributions to his partner and child.”

Sheriff David Hall said he had decided to show mercy on Cafferkey.

“It’s clear from what is contained in the report that you are making efforts to turn your life around and trying to lead a responsible life, then you became involved in behaviour like this, which set you back,” he told him.

“It’s with some hesitation that I look beyond an imprisonment sentence here.”

Sheriff Hall sentenced Cafferkey to 150 hours of unpaid work and ordered him to pay Ian Mitchell £500 compensation.

Cafferkey will also remain under supervision from the social work department for two years and was ordered not to enter the Commercial Hotel in Keith.