Twin brothers have been put behind bars after a planned revenge attack on a man for insulting their mum ended in them battering his dad – and a neighbour.
Rhys and Brandon Booth, along with a group of others, went to confront the man at his address on Stewart Terrace, Aberdeen, over a social media post about their mother.
But when their intended target wasn’t there, the 20-year-old twins instead turned their aggression on others.
Rhys initially spat on and punched the man’s father, and then when a neighbour tried to intervene Brandon bit him and hit him with a wooden stick.
Crown narrative
Fiscal depute Christy Ward told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “At about 7pm on June 28 2020, a large group of people, including the accused, attended outside the locus and began to shout ‘come out if you think you’re a hard man’.”
The parents of the male their taunts were aimed at then came outside and told the crowd he wasn’t there.
Ms Ward said: “Without warning, Rhys Booth spat on the man and then punched him in the face, causing his lip to burst.”
A neighbour then came outside and told the group to leave them alone.
Ms Ward said: “Brandon Booth then assaulted the neighbour. During the ensuing struggle, the man was bitten to the back of his head and his upper right arm, causing the skin to break.
“Brandon Booth also struck the man on the body with a wooden stick.
“The police were contacted and both accused were cautioned, arrested and taken to Kittybrewster custody suite.”
Ms Ward told the court the neighbour who intervened was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he was found to have a 30mm abrasion to his right shoulder blade, a small puncture wound and bruising to the base of his bicep and two wounds behind his right ear measuring 10mm and 15mm.
He was given a Hepatitis B vaccination and discharged with a course of antibiotics.
The father who was punched in the face did not require medical treatment.
The charges
Rhys Booth, who appeared via a video link, pled guilty to spitting at and punching the father on the head, or otherwise assaulting him, to his injury.
Brandon Booth admitted assaulting the neighbour by biting him on the head and striking him on the body with a stick to his injury.
Both brothers pled guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing and challenging the occupants of the property to fight.
Rhys Booth also admitted separate charges of reset of a bicycle and of malicious mischief by throwing a brick at a car on Oldtown Terrace on May 6.
Mitigation
Defence agent Kevin Longino, representing Rhys Booth, said the twins and their intended target were known to each other and grew up together.
He told the court Rhys Booth had seen a social media post from the man which was “just a litany of abuse against his mother, calling her all sorts of names”.
The solicitor said his client had also been punched “several times” during the incident and was left with a bleeding mouth.
He added: “We’re dealing with a group who all know each other and amongst whom there are various backgrounds and people who are of a very similar character.
“It doesn’t excuse Mr Booth involving himself and reacting badly and wrongly to what had been said about his mother.”
Solicitor Neil McRobert, representing Brandon Booth, said: “He indicates he had consumed a lot of alcohol.”
The lawyer explained his client had previously been friends with the male who made the social media post.
He added there had been a “falling out” and “things had been said” by the male which resulted in the twins going to his house to “confront him in relation to that”.
Mr McRobert said: “Brandon Booth’s position is the neighbour became physically involved with Rhys and he picked up a stick that was lying in the garden and hit him on the back with the stick.
“There was then a scuffle and Brandon accepts he bit the man twice.”
Sheriff Summers’ comments
Sheriff William Summers, addressing Rhys Booth, said: “You and your brother became involved in some cowardly, misguided, seemingly drink-fuelled exercise to exact revenge for some perceived slight.”
The sheriff ordered Rhys Booth, a prisoner of Polmont, to be detained for 19 months, and also imposed a nine-month supervised release order.
Sheriff Summers described the assault committed by Brandon Booth, of Fraser Place, Aberdeen, as “vicious” and ordered him to be detained for 18 months.
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