A man told his friend he had “chopped up a kid’s leg like Rambo” after a vicious machete attack that left his 22-year-old victim in need of surgery.
Adam Oakes, known as Roberts, pleaded guilty to assaulting Connor Watt with a machete when he appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court via video link from HMP Grampian yesterday.
The court heard Roberts went on a knife-wielding rampage after £600 of his cash went missing from a third man’s house.
Fiscal depute Katy Begg said Mr Watt had been introduced to the man 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 Mr Watt the next day, claiming he’d stolen £600 belonging to Roberts.
Mr Watt 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, Mr Watt 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.
The 29-year-old retrieved the machete and pointed it at Mr Watt’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 Mr Watt 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 Mr Watt was anxious not only about finding alternative employment but the toll his injuries had taken on his family, who were taking care of him.
Sheriff Graham Buchanan told Roberts, whose address was given as King Street, Aberdeen, it was an “extremely serious matter”.
Sentence was deferred until November to obtain social work reports.
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