A 25-year-old who responded to alleged “bullying” by clubbing a man over the head with a hammer in Aberdeen has been jailed for more than two years.
Joss Reid was apprehended after knocking his victim unconscious by “repeatedly” hitting him on the head with the weapon on the city’s Crown Street last summer.
During the “nasty” attack, on June 24, he also kicked and stamped on the man’s head to the endangerment of his life.
Reid was found guilty after a trial before a jury, having denied a charge of assault and returned to Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday for sentencing.
During his appearance in the dock, Reid claimed to have snapped after being “bullied” by his victim in the hours prior to the attack.
The court heard that incident prompted him to make a visit to his home to collect a hammer before confronting the man half-an-hour later and enacting his revenge.
In the wake of the attack, police had to close the road for several hours while they carried out an investigation.
Reid’s solicitor, Bruce Macdonald, acknowledged that his client was facing “serious charges” as a result of the assault.
He claimed it had been born partially out of the “abuse and harassment” he’d suffered.
Mr Macdonald said Reid had been working to turn his life around since the incident and had secured an offer of work in a burger van. He urged the court to show him leniency.
Sheriff Jack Brown told Reid he was guilty of an “extremely serious” offence.
He said: “You deny the use of a hammer and that is entirely your right and I take on board that there was something of a background between you and the complainant.
“It is, however, perhaps more luck than anything else that he did not sustain more serious injuries than he did.”
Reid, whose address was given as Aberdeen Foyer, Crown Street, was sentenced to 27 months in prison.