A man who broke the eye socket of a woman in a north-east night club has been spared jail – after finding £3,500 to pay her in compensation.
Sheriff Christine McCrossan said Ilya Ostapcuks had shown “extreme remorse” after knocking Samantha Hand unconscious and should not be locked up.
But last night his victim said “no amount of money” would make up for the attack and criticised the sentence.
Ostapcuks admitted severely injuring Miss Hand during an appearance in Aberdeen Sheriff Court earlier this year.
Miss Hand had been enjoying a night out with her friends at Prohibition in Aberdeen when they were approached by him.
It was made clear they had no interest in him but he continued to loiter in the nearby area.
Around 10 minutes later, as the group were about to leave, he punched Miss Hand in the head – knocking her to the ground with such force that she was left unconscious.
She was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with a fractured eye socket.
During a later appearance in court, Sheriff Christine McCrossan said Ostapcuks would have to find £3,500 to pay directly in compensation to Miss Hand to avoid a custodial sentence.
And yesterday defence agent Charles Benzies confirmed the money had been collected.
Sheriff McCrossan said yesterday: “This was something I considered a custodial sentence was a possible outcome for.
“Given the extreme remorse that you made clear to throughout the social work report and through you finding the money, I have formed a view that it might be more beneficial to the complainer if you paid her compensation with a view to helping her to come to terms with what had happened.”
Ostapcuks, of Ferrier Crescent in Aberdeen, was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community within six months.
Miss Hand said last night the verdict “doesn’t really teach him a lesson”.
She said: “It’s not the worst possible outcome.
“The compensation won’t make any difference. It’s nice but no amount of money can make up for what happened.
“I felt a bit better when I found out he got unpaid hours as well.
“It doesn’t really teach him a lesson
“Paying compensation is not going to stop people from reoffending.”