A man has been jailed after he carried out a violent street attack as an act of “revenge”, a court has heard.
Martin Dossett, 39, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted assaulting his victim before stealing his bag and bicycle.
It was stated that Dossett had been stabbed in the leg by his victim only weeks before – but he had decided to wait and get revenge rather than contact the police.
Dossett tripped victim before attacking him
Fiscal depute Alan Townsend told the court that at around 7pm on August 27 last year Dossett’s victim got on his silver Giant bike and cycled to a shop in North Street, Inverurie, where he used the cash machine.
The man, who also had a navy Carhartt bag with him, was approached by Dossett who attempted to start a fight with him.
He backed off and attempted to defend himself by swinging his keys at Dossett, but Dossett was unperturbed by this.
As the man ran away, Dossett called him a “f****** a*******” before tripping him up and causing him to fall to the ground.
Dossett then stood over the man as he was on the ground and proceeded to punch and kick his head and arms.
“Other persons attempted to intervene, and the complainer managed to run away from the accused, who shortly thereafter rode away on the complainer’s bicycle in possession of the complainer’s bag which had fallen off during the struggle,” Mr Townsend told the court.
“The complainer contacted the police to report the matter and units were dispatched to the area.”
A short time later, the Dossett was traced by police and admitted to being involved in a disturbance.
He then showed them where the man’s bag was located, but the bike was not recovered.
In the dock, Dossett pleaded guilty to one charge of assault and a second charge of theft.
‘This is not the way to go about things’
Defence solicitor Laura Gracie told the court that her client’s position was that this was the first time he’d seen the man after he’d been stabbed in the leg.
She added: “They come upon each other by coincidence and there appears to be some sort of verbal dispute.
“Mr Dossett appears to walk away then something is said, and he changes his mind and goes after the complainer.
“I agree that this is not the way to go about things.”
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told Dossett, who has a long list of previous convictions for theft, that if he was assaulted by the man he should have then “informed the authorities”.
He added: “What you don’t do is say to yourself ‘next time I see him I’m going to give him a doing’.
“I believe you saw this as an opportunity to exact revenge.”
Sheriff Foulis sentenced Dossett, of Blackhall Wynd, Inverurie, to 17 months in prison.
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