Two men have been sentenced over their involvement in a savage late-night Aberdeen high-rise stabbing.
Darren Walsh, 55, and Austin Forbes, 45, left the man needing emergency surgery after they followed him to the drying room of Rose House in Hazlehead and launched their attack.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard a struggle ensued, with Walsh pulling a knife and repeatedly stabbing his victim to the body.
Victim went to tumble dry clothes
Fiscal depute Brian Young told the court that at around 12.30am the victim heard his front door buzzer sound, but as it was late at night he didn’t answer.
When he left his flat to use the tumble dryer in the communal drying room around 10 minutes later Walsh and Forbes kicked the door open, with Forbes shouting: “Why didn’t you let us in? Who are you? Where do you live?
“I’ve lived in this building for 15 years and I’ve never seen you.”
A struggle ensued between the three men, with the man managing to push Forbes and Walsh off him.
“As they were struggling, both accused punched the complainer and as he pushed them away, the complainer felt wetness to his left side which he quickly realised was blood,” Mr Young said.
“Walsh had struck the complainer with a knife or other sharp implement to the upper abdomen and below his left armpit, while also striking him to the left arm leaving two slash marks.
“As a result of the incident, the complainer suffered a penetrative wound to the upper left abdomen.”
Surgery was performed at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary that confirmed that the injury had penetrated through the abdominal wall.
The victim’s muscles had to be sutured and skin clips were used to close the wound.
While being charged at Kittybrewster Police Station later that night, Forbes reacted to one police officer having a Northern Irish accent.
He stated: “Check the accent to it, are you British?
“Are you orange? Are you a f***** orange c***? F****** orange c***.”
The officer perceived the comments to display racial and religious prejudice.
Walsh – a prisoner at HMP Grampian – and Forbes pleaded guilty to one charge of assault to the victim’s severe injury and danger to life.
Forbes additionally admitted a charge of behaving in a racially aggravated manner.
Pair accept involvement in attack
Walsh’s defence agent, Lisa Reilly, told the court that her client “clearly regrets his decision to get involved” in the incident.
She added: “He accepts responsibility and acted on impulse – he is very regretful for his actions.
“He has expressed shame since the start of the case and he appreciates the seriousness of the offence.
“He knows that he deserves a period of imprisonment.”
Forbes’ solicitor, Neil McRobert, said his client “accepts his involvement” in the attack.
He said: “He tells me that he had consumed alcohol to excess and he did take part in a struggle.
“But any injury caused to the complainer was not caused by Mr Forbes.”
Sentencing Walsh to three and a half years in prison, Sheriff Ian Wallace told Walsh: “You have an awful record and this is your second offence involving a knife or similar implement.
“Only a prison sentence is appropriate here.”
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Forbes, of Bruce House, Hazlehead, was handed a community payback order with supervision and 210 hours of unpaid work.
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