Ross-shire man jailed for two years at Inverness Sheriff Court after leaving another man in intensive care following an arranged fight in woods at Dingwall
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A FEUD which saw two men square off in woods and left one in intensive care at the height of the pandemic – has resulted in the other being jailed for two years.
Darren Kennedy (27) was imprisoned at Inverness Sheriff Court after admitting assault to severe injury.
And Sheriff Margaret Neilson said that, given his bad record for violent offences, it would have been three years if he had not made an early guilty plea.
The court earlier heard that Kennedy had recorded a video of him beating Stuart Johnstone unconscious after they met up for a “square go” in woods in Dingwall.
The pair had exchanged insults into the early hours of November 10, 2020.
They agreed to fight in Maggies’ Woods and when they arrived there, both men stripped to the waist to prove that neither was carrying a weapon.
Kennedy then got the better of his opponent, who was filmed lying on the ground. He was covered in blood with Kennedy standing over him and berating him with insults and comments about bottles being thrown at him, fiscal depute Alex Swain said.
It was sent via Snapchat to Mr Johnstone’s partner, who was also the target of threats, Ms Swain told Sheriff Margaret Neilson.
Johnstone suffered multiple facial fractures and spent some time in intensive care and on a ventilator.
Defence solicitor advocate Neil Wilson told the court: “My client realised the error of his ways, put him in the recovery position, phoned an ambulance and waited for it to arrive.”
Kennedy, who was originally charged with attempted murder, admitted a lesser charge of assault to severe injury by repeatedly punching Johnstone to the head and body.
Mr Wilson added: “There is a background of animosity between them which will come as no surprise. There was an occasion when bottles were thrown at my client’s property.
“The medical evidence seems serious but it was largely down to the complainer’s consumption of alcohol and drugs,” Mr Wilson went on.
Sheriff Neilson commented that the assault on Johnstone still resulted in “the take-up of an ITU bed and him being ventilated at the height of a pandemic.”
She jailed Kennedy, formerly of Peffery Road, Dingwall, for two years, backdated to his arrest on November 11.
