'You get one chance and this is it' Dingwall man told after bottle attack
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A man who was asleep in his home was struck over the head with a glass bottle after earlier having an argument with his younger drinking companion.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that the assault to severe injury which 25-year-old Steven Shepherd admitted, was committed in a house in Hill Street, Dingwall on November 25, last year.
Fiscal depute Robert Weir told Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald that Shepherd of Old River Road, Dingwall had been drinking and taking a drug with the man before being joined by the man's son and his partner.
"There was a dispute, the accused picked up a glass bottle and struck the complainer over the head. The bottle smashed."
Mr Weir added that the man was asleep at the time.
"When Shepherd was arrested he told police: 'Where is the other guy? I got hit on the head with a bottle.' His victim sustained two one-inch lacerations to the top of his head," Mr Weir went on.
Shepherd admitted the assault and had sentence deferred for a background report.
Defence solicitor advocate Shahid Latic told the court: "He has accepted responsibility but there is a motivation for change. He is capable of rehabilitation if he gets the support he needs to stop drinking. He was offending-free for four years but then he lost his job and it triggered a downward spiral. Unless he gets the help he needs, this cycle of offending will continue."
Sheriff Macdonald sentenced Shepherd to 250 hours of unpaid work and two years of social work supervision with the requirement for alcohol treatment. She fixed a progress review for March 18 and she told Shepherd who appeared by video link: "If you are not complying I will revoke this order. You get one chance and this is it.
"If this carries on you will find yourself in prison for a long time."
Shepherd also appeared for sentence on another case after admitting assaulting a constable by butting him on the head, spitting at him and attempting to bite him.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told that after he had been arrested on December 29, 2023 at Ord Terrace in Strathpeffer, Shepherd then behaved in a threatening or abusive manner towards the officers.
He pleaded guilty to shouting, swearing and challenging the police to fight at the location, on the journey to Burnett Road Police Station in Inverness and at the police office.
Shepherd also used homophobic and discriminatory language against them.
He was also sentenced to a community payback order with supervision to run alongside the other court order.
