A Dingwall man recorded a video of him beating another man unconscious after they met up for a “square go” in nearby woods.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard on Tuesday that Darren Kennedy, 27, and Stuart Johnstone had exchanged insults into the early hours of November 10 last year.
They agreed to fight in Maggies’ Woods and when they arrived there, both men stripped to the waist to prove that neither was carrying a weapon, the court heard.
Kennedy then got the better of his opponent, who was filmed lying on the ground. He was covered in blood with Kennedy standing over him and berating him with insults and comments about bottles being thrown at him, fiscal depute Alex Swain said.
It was sent via Snapchat to Johnstone’s partner who was also the target of threats, Ms Swain told Sheriff Margaret Neilson.
Johnstone suffered multiple facial fractures and spent some time in intensive care and on a ventilator.
Defence solicitor advocate Neil Wilson told the court: “My client realised the error of his ways, put him in the recovery position, phoned an ambulance and waited for it to arrive.”
Kennedy, who was originally charged with attempted murder, admitted a lesser charge of assault to assault to severe injury by repeatedly punching Johnstone to the head and body.
Mr Wilson added: “There is a background of animosity between them which will come as no surprise. There was an occasion when bottles were thrown at my client’s property.
“The medical evidence seems serious but it was largely down to the complainer’s consumption of alcohol and drugs.”
Sheriff Neilson said that the assault on Johnstone still resulted in “the take-up of an ITU bed and him being ventilated at the height of a pandemic”.
She jailed Kennedy, formerly of Peffery Road, Dingwall, for two years, backdated to November 11 because of the seriousness of the offence and Kennedy’s violent record.
The Sheriff said it would have been three years but for Kennedy’s early plea.
