A man “took the law into his own hands” and battered his mum’s boyfriend with a metal pole after learning he had assaulted her.
Michal Wosinski, 21, raced round to their address in Parkhill, Dyce, after receiving a call from his mum advising of the incident, and armed himself with a metal pole.
The 21-year-old used the pole to smash a window before turning it on Iain Riddoch, his mum’s partner, striking him “several times” with it.
Both men appeared separately at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted their guilt over the different assaults.
In Wosinski’s case, fiscal depute Tom Procter told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “At about 12.30am on May 26 the complainer (Riddoch) was alone within his home and received a call from the accused.
“The accused threatened that he was going to come to the locus and cause injury to the complainer and smash windows and threatened to put the complainer in a grave.
“The complainer contacted the police regarding these threats.
Pair fought each other in garden
“However, soon after, the complainer observed a vehicle making its way towards the locus. The complainer went into the garden where he was met by the accused along with two other unknown males.
“The accused smashed the window of the utility room of the locus using a metal pole.
“The accused then approached and struck the complainer several times with the metal pole. The complainer attempted to defend himself and pushed the accused back with a chair.
“They then began to fight with each other in the garden.
“The fighting stopped and the accused’s keys for his vehicle were removed from him, preventing him from leaving. The accused then punched the complainer a number of times to the head.”
Mr Procter said Riddoch advised Wosinski police had been contacted and he fled on foot.
He was traced a short time later.
Wosinski pled guilty to charges of assault and vandalism over the incident.
Defence agent Stuart Beveridge said: “My client’s recollection of events is slightly different but he does accept he did assault the complainer.
“His position is he attended having received a call from his mother saying she had been assaulted by the complainer, her long term partner.
‘We can’t have people going around whacking people with poles’
“He had attended there to remonstrate with the complainer about what he’d done to her.”
Mr Beveridge said his client’s position was that when he attended, the complainer had come outside with a chair and knocked him to the ground, and he’d grabbed the pole in response to that.
He added: “He shouldn’t have done what he did.”
Sheriff Donald Ferguson said: “He’s taken the law into his own hands. It’s totally inappropriate and not the way to go about things.”
Mr Beveridge said: “He was reacting to the phone call received from his mother. With hindsight, he should have called the police.”
Sheriff Ferguson told Wosinski, of Cloverfield Close, Bucksburn: “You seem to be ambivalent about whether this was the right thing to do or not. I think everybody is saying to you it’s not the right thing to do.
“We can’t have people going around taking the law into their own hands and whacking people with poles. It’s violent and it’s wrong.”
He handed Wosinski a structured deferred sentence, to call in court again on February 18.
Riddoch was admonished over the domestic assault
Meanwhile, in an earlier hearing, Riddoch, 51, pled guilty to a charge of domestic assault, by pushing Wosinski’s mum to the body and causing her to fall.
The incident happened on May 25 at the Parkhill address after the couple had been drinking at home.
Fiscal depute Lucy Simpson told the court that the couple had been drinking “throughout the evening” when an argument erupted over Riddoch missing a call from his sick father and wanting to drive to see him.
Defence agent Paul Barnett said Riddoch had gone for his car keys and a fight broke out between the couple.
Riddoch, of Parkhill, Dyce, admitted becoming angry and pushing the woman causing her to fall back into a flower bed.
He was admonished by Sheriff Philip Mann over the incident, meaning the conviction goes on his record but he does not face any further punishment.
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