An Aberdeen man left his pal with a fractured skull after flying into a drunken rage over a comment about his son’s death.
Lee Smith visited his friend and both consumed alcohol and drugs before things descended into violence.
Following the attack, Smith’s victim found himself locked inside the address and had to climb out of a window to get help.
And Smith, 44, followed up with a Facebook message saying the man “deserved” it for making the distressing comment alleging he’d been to blame for his son’s tragic death.
Fiscal depute Kirsty Martin told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened during the afternoon of February 3 last year at the complainer’s address on Croft Place in Aberdeen.
She said: “The complainer said something which angered the accused.
“The accused approached the complainer and punched him around three times to his head.
“The complainer tried to cover his head and avoid the accused but fell from his seat onto the floor and his head struck the floor.
Victim said Smith was ‘in some way partially responsible’ for tragic death
“He remained there for a short while before he managed to get up off the floor and noticed the address was empty.”
On trying to leave, the man realised he was locked in and had to climb out the living room window before going to a neighbour for help.
The neighbour noted the man was bleeding from a wound on his head and contacted the emergency services.
On being taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, the man was found to have “complex depressed frontal skull fracture, a small subdural hematoma and a 6-8cm laceration to the forehead which required stitches to close”.
Smith sent his victim a message on Facebook after the attack, saying he got what he deserved.
Smith, of Shapinsay Court, Aberdeen, pled guilty to assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Defence agent Iain Hingston said the men had been friends for a number of years.
He explained Smith’s 19-year-old son had died tragically and suddenly in January 2021 in a “drugs-related” incident.
‘He done me. I deserved it’
Mr Hingston said his client had been struggling with his mental health and “particularly complex emotions” at the time due to the bereavement.
He said the complainer had accused Smith of being “in some way partially responsible” for the tragic death.
The solicitor said the assault was Smith’s reaction to this and said it was “particularly regrettable” that the man’s head had struck the floor.
Mr Hingston said Smith’s mental health was now improving, adding: “The fact he allowed himself to lose control in the way he did is a matter of considerable and genuine regret.
“These people were friends.”
The solicitor quoted the victim, in the wake of the incident, as saying: “He done me. I deserved it.”
However, he hastened to add that he was not seeking to blame the man for what happened.
Sheriff Ian Wallace imposed 18 months of supervision, 210 hours of unpaid work and a 225-day curfew as a direct alternative to custody.
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