A teenager has told how she was left scared to go out after a vicious assault in an Aberdeen city centre nightspot.
The 19-year-old woman, who did not want to be named, was assaulted at The Tunnels along with her brother and her boyfriend.
David Barrie, 30, punched her on the head, knocking her to the floor, then headbutted her brother and repeatedly punched her boyfriend, leaving him with a laceration under his eye.
Appearing in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, Barrie pled guilty to the three assaults and was fined £800 by Sheriff Robert McDonald.
Speaking after the hearing the woman said: “All I got was a punch in the face, then I was on the floor.
“I didn’t know the extent of it until I went outside and saw the state my boyfriend was in. It all happened in what felt like seconds. It was pretty scary.
“I’m pleased with how much he got fined. It did shock me for a few days. I didn’t want to go out for a while after.”
Fiscal depute Anna Chisholm said the trio were at the venue when they became aware of Barrie and another male close to them.
She added: “They found it creepy.”
At one point Barrie approached a member of the group and “put his arm around his shoulders”.
The woman’s brother “tapped the accused on the shoulder and asked him to stop approaching the group”.
Ms Chisholm said: “The accused appeared to be angered by this.
“The accused turned and grabbed him by the neck and headbutted him, and this caused him to stagger backwards where he was caught by another individual.”
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Having witnessed this, the woman began to shout at Barrie and he “punched her to the face causing her to fall to the ground”.
And Barrie, of Gordon Place, Inverurie, went on to punch her boyfriend “several” times to the face.
Defence agent Les Green described his client’s behaviour on March 17 as “out of character”.
He said: “There was some misunderstanding about how his arm went over the shoulder. It seems to have set off a string of events.
“His recollection is he was actually punched. He wishes to apologise for having been involved in this and put the whole matter behind him.”
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