A violent thug knocked a man unconscious in an Aberdeen street, pulled down his trousers and underwear, and dragged him across the road.
Lee Hipson clashed with the man, who was an associate of his, outside the William Hill bookies on Byron Square in Northfield.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard the 30-year-old challenged his victim because he was urinating in public and the man responded with a threat to stab him.
Hipson lashed out with a punch, briefly knocking the man out as he fell to the ground, before pulling down his trousers and searching through his clothing.
Fiscal depute Jane Spark said the incident happened on May 3 last year.
Lee Hipson revealed exposed his victim’s genitals during the Aberdeen street attack
She said Hipson “confronted” the man and “began to place his hands in his pockets”.
The victim tried to walk away but was followed by Hipson, who punched his head, knocked him to the ground and caused him to lose consciousness for a moment.
“Hipson then pulled down the complainer’s trousers and underwear and dragged him by the ankles across the concrete as he lay face down,” Ms Spark explained.
She added: “Hipson proceeded to turn him on to his back whilst his trousers and underwear remained down, revealing his genitals.
“He then searched through the man’s clothing and pockets.”
A co-accused, Taylar Wetherly, 26, then became involved by pulling down the man’s trousers even further while Hipson went on to search their victim’s left sock.
Staff at the William Hill branch witnessed the man’s ordeal as they watched the incident through a CCTV security camera.
When they went outside to intervene, Hipson shouted: “He threatened to stab me”.
Both Hipson and Wetherly then left the scene of the disturbance.
Their victim escaped with just a small cut to his lip as a result of the assault inflicted on him.
Northfield street attacker’s prison cell rampage caused £715.64 damage
Hipson, a prisoner at HMP Grampian in Peterhead, and Wetherly, of Princes Street in Aberdeen, both pled guilty to charges of assault to injury.
Hipson also admitted to assault and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner over a separate incident on November 15 last year at HMP Grampian.
Ms Spark told the court Hipson was placed in a holding cell around 2pm awaiting officers to return him to his cell.
“During this time, the accused was unhappy that he was not receiving immediate attention from staff present and continually banged on the cell door,” she said.
Staff observing his behaviour watched as he “forcibly removed a wooden slat from the bench in the cell while making verbal threats towards staff”.
Hipson began hitting things in the cell with the piece of wood, causing a glass panel in the door to smash.
Due to concerns for his own safety, because of the broken glass, staff entered the cell but – due to his disorderly conduct – were forced to draw their batons and restrain him.
Hipson then went on to spit in a prison officer’s face.
Damage that he caused during his cell rampage cost a total of £715.64.
Lee Hipson’s lawyer tells Aberdeen court of ‘knife stab’ threat
Defence agent Chris Maitland, representing Hipson, said of the first incident in Northfield that all parties involved had been drinking.
“The complainer had been urinating in public, exposing himself. There were children present,” Mr Maitland explained.
“Mr Hipson approached and remonstrated with him. The complainer said, ‘Shut your mouth or I’ll f****** stab you’.
The lawyer added that Hipson had been aware the man was carrying at least one knife so he “lost his temper” and committed the assault.
He added: “The reason for the slightly out-of-the-ordinary aspects of the assault is that he was looking for the knife”.
Iain McGregor, Wetherly’s defence solicitor, said his client played a “fairly minimal” part in the incident and it lasted “a matter of seconds”.
Referring to the disturbance at HMP Grampian, Mr Maitland explained that his client had not been taking his anti-psychotic medication for some time beforehand, causing him to become “paranoid and aggressive”.
Sheriff Ian Wallace jailed Hipson for 18 months, which he said would be consecutive to a sentence he is already serving.
Wetherly was handed one year’s supervision and a curfew for 225 days.
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