A thug who “chopped up a kid’s leg like Rambo” in a row over money has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Adam Oakes, known as Roberts, previously pled guilty to assaulting a man, 22, with a machete when he appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court via video link from HMP Grampian.
The court heard Roberts, 29, went on a knife-wielding rampage after £600 of his cash went missing from a third man’s house on North Anderson Drive on June 17.
Sentence had been deferred for reports but Roberts has now appeared back in court, where Sheriff Graham Buchanan handed him an extended sentence with four-and-a-half years in prison and a further two years on licence.
Roberts, a prisoner of HMP Grampian, previously admitted a charge of assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment.
Defence lawyer Graham Morrison told the court that until now Roberts had been “a regular offender, but not a serious offender”, adding: “This time he’s gone way out of his depth and ended up very much in the deep end.”
Mr Morrison said things “became very heated” as Roberts tried to get his money back. He said: “He’s making threats. The money is not being returned and he uses the knife to back up the threats.
“He didn’t take the knife to the house, the knife was at the house.
“His anger turned to fury. A remark was made that tipped him over the edge and he acted in the manner described.
“Boy does he regret it.”
Sheriff Buchanan told Roberts the assault was “extremely brutal”, adding: “I have concluded you present a high risk of causing harm from which it is necessary to protect the public.
Robert Snelling, 24, of King Street, Aberdeen, previously pled guilty to attempting to defeat the ends of justice by cleaning the crime scene with bleach and other products.
Sheriff Buchanan deferred sentence on him until January so he can be personally present.
Fiscal depute Katy Begg previously told the court the complainer had been introduced to the man whose property the attack happened at the night before the assault, on June 16, when a group went back to his house to continue drinking.
When their host fell asleep, the court heard they had left, only for the man to confront the complainer the next day, claiming he’d stolen £600 belonging to Roberts.
The complainer said he hadn’t but would return to the house to help the man look for it.
When they were in the North Anderson Drive property, he noticed a machete lying on the bed and could hear the man on the phone to Roberts.
Roberts arrived and became aggressive when the 22-year-old said he didn’t know where the money was.
Roberts retrieved the machete and pointed it at the man’s face, asking again where the money was.
He then swung the machete at his knee – hacking it open – and then his foot.
When the assault was over, Roberts told his victim he expected £200 by Friday.
The third man called an ambulance and advised them Mr Watt had fallen off a fence as he was rushed to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
He remained in hospital for four days and had to have surgery for serious injuries that resulted in the loss of his job.
His knee required surgery to repair the tendon, while other wounds needed stitches.
The court was told he will be unable to work as a manual labourer again.
Ms Begg said the complainer still had a leg splint and only recently stopped using crutches.
The terrifying attack, she added, had left him with recurring nightmares.
The fiscal depute added that he faced a long and “really hard” recovery and remained “in a lot of pain”.
She said he was anxious not only about finding alternative employment but the toll his injuries had taken on his family, who were taking care of him.
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