An offshore worker who drunkenly cracked a bottle over a woman during a brutal attack only avoided jail because he has turned his life round.
Gary Willox, 50, of 17 Dunnyduff Road, Keith, admitted to assaulting Angela Green in a Keith pub on April 12 while home on leave.
The plea was tendered last month, but sentencing was deferred until yesterday for the preparation of a criminal justice social work report.
On the day of the attack, Willox had been out with his wife before doing the rounds at a number of Keith’s pubs on his own — during a period when he was spending £500 a week on alcohol.
Ms Green had also been out that day. Although he was too drunk to recall much of it, the court heard Willox believed Ms Green thought his son was not good enough to date her daughter.
As the night came to a head in the Commercial Hotel, Willox pushed her and emptied his pint over her.
The father-of-two then threw the glass at her, which narrowly missed, before striking her on the head with a bottle, which left her requiring hospital treatment.
His solicitor, Gregor Kelly, told the court: “He had no memory of the incident due to his alcohol consumption.
“He is married and has been with his wife in a relationship for 35 years since they were childhood sweethearts at 15.
“He works for an oil-related company, and earns £2,500 a month.
“£1,500 of that he was spending on alcohol every three weeks when he was onshore.”
However the court then heard that since this incident in April, Willox has turned his life around and been “all but abstinent” — managing to save £12,000 by not drinking.
Mr Kelly added: “His wife was sick and tired of him coming home and getting excessively drunk. They know spend their time walking and ‘caravaning’, rather than drinking in local public houses.”
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov said Willox’s “saving grace” preventing him going to jail was that he had voluntarily addressed his drinking.
He was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work in the next year, pay Ms Green £1000 compensation and was placed under supervision for 12 months.
He was also encouraged to continue successfully tackling his drinking problem.
