A man has been jailed after he carried out a brutal revenge attack inside the halls of Elgin Sheriff Court.
Lossiemouth man Tony Arbuthnot permanently disfigured his victim during the assault, which saw him kick and punch the man to the ground and then flee the scene.
Defence solicitor Brent Lockie told Inverness Sheriff Court that his client, who pleaded guilty to assaulting his victim to his permanent disfigurement, had been the recipient of an earlier attack involving members of the man’s family.
The man was waiting for his case to be called at Elgin Sheriff Court on March 24 last year when Arbuthnot, 26, saw him emerge from the waiting room and repeatedly punched him.
He then unleashed a kick to his head, resulting in an injury which required five stitches and left the victim with a scar.
‘The red mist descended’
At the previous hearing, fiscal depute Susan Love said the victim “put his hands up to his face to try and protect himself and bent over. But the accused continued to punch him and then kicked him once on the head.”
Defence solicitor Mr Lockie outlined Arbuthnot’s version of events.
He said: “My client saw him emerging from the waiting room smirking and saying: ‘You are going to get it’ before he smiled.
“The red mist then descended. He is quite ashamed of himself.”
Previous assault convictions
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank jailed Arbuthnot for 23 months.
He told him: “This offence was committed when you were subject to two bail orders. You also have three previous convictions, two for assault to injury and one of assault to severe injury.
“The public interest deserves something other than a community-based disposal. This assault was committed within the precincts of a court and the public demands protection.”
The prison sentence was backdated to January 7 when Arbuthnot was remanded in custody.