Alness student's 'terrible upbringing' acknowledged by Highland sheriff amid jail warning as sentence passed
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Two University of the Highlands and Islands students exchanged playful banter and insults in a campus kitchen, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
But when 20-year-old Tyler Grant of Teaninich Paddock, Alness took exception to one of the comments, he attacked his fellow student by aiming a punch at him.
Fiscal depute David Morton said he then grabbed a knife, "presented it towards the other's neck before squirting a bottle of water at him".
Grant admitted a charge of assault which occurred on March 22 this year.
Defence solicitor advocate Neil Wilson told Sheriff Sara Matheson: "He knows he is in difficulty here due to an analogous matter. He felt he was being bullied and he over-reacted.
"He has had a chaotic upbringing but has done unpaid work well before but he needs support."
Sentence had been deferred for a background report.
Sheriff Sara Matheson told Grant: "You have had a terrible upbringing and I have sympathy for that but it can only go so far."
She sentenced Grant to 200 hours of unpaid community work and placed him under 18 months of social work supervision.
But she warned him if he did not comply fully, custody would be the alternative.
