An Aberdeen taxi driver who had to give up work after a vicious attack by his neighbour over a parking space says his family will continue to “live in fear”.
Jamie Stroud, 30, left his victim with a bleed on the brain after the sustained assault outside his home and in front of the man’s terrified nine-year-old son.
Stroud’s defence agent told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that the attack, on the city’s Larch Road, happened after his client “snapped”.
His victim has been unable to work as a taxi driver since the attack, which was sparked by a long-running parking dispute, on August 21 last year.
Victim suffered bleeding on brain
The court was previously told how Stroud’s neighbour and son were playing football in the front garden when they saw him parallel park very close to his car, leaving very little space between the two vehicles.
Stroud then rained down punches repeatedly on the man’s head and face, while the whole assault was caught on CCTV and in front of the victim’s young son.
As well as a bleed on the brain, his victim also suffered headaches, numbness and slurred speech as a result of the assault.
The court heard how his inability to return to work had “severely restricted his income and ability to support himself and his son”.
Stroud, who the court heard suffers from autism and ADHD, pleaded guilty to one charge of assault.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin handed Stroud, of Larch Road, Aberdeen, a six-month curfew, supervision for 18 months and 120 hours of unpaid work.
She also issued a non-harassment order banning Stroud from contacting or communicating with his neighbour and suggested they “learn to live together in harmony”.
Reacting to the sentence, his victim said the attack had a significant “emotional impact” on his family and that he’s still never had an apology.
“My son was there when it was happening and it’s really affected him,” he said. “He’s still suffering. If he is in the garden playing and he walks over he panics.
“He used to be out playing all the time but now he stays in his room with the blinds down. He is living in fear. He’s really scared.
“I would have liked for him to be banned from the perimeter of my property.”
Defence agent John McLeod claimed his client was a victim in the dispute too and argued that any order banning Stroud from parts of the street would be “disproportionate”.
“He has been subject to an element of abuse, effectively a hate crime, at the hands of this complainer,” he said. “He snapped and did what he did. He accepts that was entirely wrong.”
The solicitor suggested a non-harassment order, which Stoud’s victim was supportive of, would not be feasible given the men live opposite each other.
“He has no wish to have anything to do with this man ever again,” he added.
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