A man has appeared in court accused of attempted murder after a “friendly gentleman” was attacked outside his home in Aberdeen.
Ryan Coutts appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday, also charged with two attempted car thefts, stealing from a car and having an offensive weapon in a public place.
His appearance comes after police revealed a man in his 60s suffered serious facial and head injuries in an assault in Deveron Road, Mastrick on Saturday.
It is understood he was attacked after going outside to confront someone acting suspiciously outside his home.
And a blue Ford Focus parked in his driveway yesterday appeared to have a dent beside the handle of the front passenger door.
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Last night, neighbours described their shock at the incident and described the victim and his wife as a “decent, nice couple.”
One woman said: “He is a good neighbour and a friendly gentleman, this is not the sort of thing we would expect to happen to him and is scary to think about.
“I was just shocked.”
Another close neighbour added: “It really is shocking. The couple have lived there for a really long time and are just a part of the community.”
The victim’s family were too upset to comment last night.
PC Iain Fraser said: “This has been undoubtedly been a distressing incident for the community and we are grateful for its support while inquiries were carried out.”
At the city’s sheriff court yesterday, 29-year-old Coutts, of Aberdeen, made no plea or declaration to the five charges against him.
Jade Martin, 28, also of Aberdeen, appeared alongside him accused of theft from a car and two charges of attempted theft of a car.
She faces further charges of acting in a racially aggravated manner intended to cause “alarm or distress”, and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
Coutts and Martin were remanded in custody until their next appearance at court, which is expected to be within eight days.