A would-be car thief who stabbed a 62-year-old homeowner with a screwdriver when he confronted him on his Aberdeen driveway has been jailed for four years.
Ryan Coutts, 29, was attempting to steal the vehicle in Deveron Road, Aberdeen, when the brutal attack took place.
At the High Court in Glasgow, Coutts admitted assaulting the man to his permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life. He also pled guilty to attempting to steal his car.
Coutts, of Aberdeen, originally faced an attempted murder charge but his plea to the reduced charge was accepted.
Judge Lady Stacey told Coutts: “You committed a nasty offence against a man in his 60s. You and he are lucky he was not more seriously injured.”
Lady Stacey also ordered Coutts to be monitored in the community for two years after his release.
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Co-accused Jade Martin, 29, of Nigg Kirk Road, Aberdeen, who was with Coutts in Deveron Road, admitted acting in a racially aggravated manner towards a police officer at Kittybrewster police station on October 14 last year, and to threatening her and threatening to blow up someone’s home.
The court heard the 62-year-old victim’s wife woke him at 6.40am on October 13 last year to tell him she saw a man and a woman inside his Ford Focus.
The homeowner quickly dressed and ran out but Coutts made off when he saw him, leaving Martin in the car.
She got out the passenger side and the victim challenged her about what she was doing, then kicked the door shut, striking her and causing her to fall to the ground.
At this point, Coutts returned and punched the man several times to the head, causing him to fall to the ground and then said he was going to “cut” and “stab” him.
The homeowner suffered stab injuries to his neck, chin, lower lip and abdomen.
Lady Stacey ordered Martin to perform 80 hours of unpaid work in the community and told her: “You behaved in a disgraceful fashion in the police station. I hope you are ashamed of yourself.”
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