A retired accountant suffered a double fracture of the jaw when he was attacked by a young stranger during an evening stroll, a court has heard.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told the pensioner asked why the man had done it, and the reply was: “Because I felt like it.”
However several people came forward to police after hearing an appeal for witnesses to the assault on 75-year-old Gordon Moggach in Kingsmills Road on March 16, 2017.
It led to the arrest of 24-year-old Zeke McKnight, of Woodlands Brae, Inverness, who yesterday denied punching Mr Moggach to his severe injury and permanent impairment at the first day of his trial.
Teacher Yvonne Mackay told the court she saw a man with Mr Moggach, who was left slumped over a fence near Fraser Park as she walked home about 5.30pm.
But Mrs Mackay said she couldn’t identify the assailant in the blue anorak who had struck the pensioner.
Mr Moggach was also unable to pick out his attacker, but confirmed he had a blue anorak and a backpack.
He told the jury: “I asked him why he did it and he replied ‘because I felt like it.’ I didn’t know who he was.”
Mr Moggach was initially treated at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, but underwent surgery in Aberdeen the following day for a metal plate to be inserted in his jaw.
The court was told that minutes after the assault McKnight, wearing a blue anorak and carrying a backpack, entered Crown Stores further down Kingsmills Road wanting to buy a bottle of Buckfast.
Shop assistant Muriel Macdonald was able to give his name to fiscal depute Michelle Molley as she had asked him for ID to prove his age.
The jury heard that two other witnesses also came forward to police within 24 hours and identified McKnight’s photograph as the drunk man they had seen walking towards Kingsmills Road through nearby Lochiel Road and Eriskay Road at the relevant time.
McKnight was then arrested in Dingwall.
The trial before Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald resumes on Monday.
