Two Easter Ross men were each ordered to carry out 140 hours of unpaid community work after they were found guilty of attacking a man in a Conon Bridge car park last October.
David Watson, 33, of 17 Deas Avenue, Dingwall, and Lee Macleod, 23, of 76 Windsor Place, Conon Bridge denied punching and kicking William Fraser near his home in Windsor Place.
But last month Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood found the pair guilty, and warned them they may be jailed for the offence.
However he decided to impose a community payback order instead adding: “You kicked a man on the head and you can expect to go to jail.”
The court heard 30-year-old electrician Mr Fraser was on his way to deliver an inhaler for his daughter to his estranged wife.
She had been with friends – including her new partner, Watson – in Windsor Place when she called Mr Fraser to make the delivery.
But when Mr Fraser arrived, he was confronted by a group of people including Macleod, Watson and his ex-wife running towards him, shouting and swearing.
Neighbours David Hayden, 34, and his partner Rachel Jones, 26, said they were about to go bed when they heard a commotion and shouting and swearing outside.
They looked out of their bathroom window and saw both men punching and kicking Mr Fraser who suffered a black eye and bruised ribs, but did not require medical attention.