Sentence deferred at Inverness Sheriff Court on drunk Alness bar customer who beat up barman
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AN Alness barman was punched around the head and dragged outside the Station Hotel by an angry customer who had been refused drink.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard there was a trail of blood from the hotel into the car park where William MacRae had dragged barman Michael Brooks.
Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald heard MacRae had been in the hotel on the evening of Sunday, October 13.
He was clearly drunk and Mr Brooks refused to serve him any more.
Depute fiscal Karen Aitken said MacRae took exception to this and became aggressive to Mr Brooks who picked up the phone to call the police.
“At this point the accused walked behind the bar preventing Mr Brooks from leaving the area.”
Then MacRae punched the barman causing him to fall to the ground.
The barman got back to his feet but was followed into the kitchen by MacRae, who continued his attack, then CCTV footage showed him grabbing Mr Brooks by the arm and dragging him along the ground and into the car park.
“The girlfriend of Michael Brooks was also present during this incident, and she followed a blood trail, leading out into the car park.
“She found Michael lying outside on the ground with blood all over him.”
Mrs Aitken said he suffered abrasions to his shoulder, chin and nose, swollen eyes, lacerations, a fractured nose and cheekbone.
MacRae (40), whose address on court papers was HMP Inverness, has been in custody since his arrest five days later.
Solicitor Graham Mann said there had been no history between the victim and MacRae and everything was good-spirited prior to the incident.
Mr Mann said he would be seeking deferral to allow MacRae, who admitted the offence, to make some restitution to his victim and he had £4000 he wished to offer to the complainer.
He said Mr Brooks, who was blameless in the whole affair, had made a significant recovery.
Sheriff Macdonald deferred sentence to March 6 for a risk assessment. MacRae was remanded until then.
