A drunken teenager left a man with a metal plate and screws in his jaw after a horror assault in a Huntly car park.
Callum McGregor, who was just 18 at the time, got into an “altercation” with his victim and dragged him halfway out of the car window.
The now 21-year-old put his victim in a choke hold and repeatedly punched him in the face, leaving him with a badly broken jaw which required surgery.
Fiscal depute Rebecca Thompson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened around 10.40pm on June 18 2021.
The complainer had parked next to a friend’s vehicle at the Market Muir car park in Huntly when McGregor walked across between the cars.
He leaned into his victim’s open window and began to shout at him.
When the man tried to calm McGregor down, he grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him “half out of the window”.
McGregor pled guilty to assault to severe injury
While he was still hanging out of the window, McGregor opened the door and, when his victim managed to get to his feet, spun him around and put him in a “tight choke hold”.
With one arm tightly around his neck, McGregor used the other hand to repeatedly punch his victim to the face.
Another male approached and told McGregor to stop.
He initially refused but when the witness grabbed hold of him McGregor let go of his victim and the parties went their separate ways.
McGregor later attended Elgin police station where he was arrested and interviewed.
During interview, he admitted to being under the influence of alcohol and that he had “become involved in an altercation” with his victim.
He accepted punching him but could not remember putting him in a chokehold.
His victim was left with a badly broken jaw and required surgery to insert a metal plate and four screws.
McGregor, of Dufftown, pled guilty to assault to severe injury.
‘He’s embarrassed and ashamed’
Defence agent Liam Mcallister said his client was “remorseful” for his “impulsive, immature” actions when he was aged just 18.
He went on: “He had never thrown a punch at anyone before and will never do it again, he tells me.
“He accepts it’s a loss of control. He’s embarrassed and ashamed.
“I would be hugely surprised if Mr McGregor troubles these courts again.”
Sheriff Ian Wallace told McGregor: “I accept you are remorseful and have taken steps to help ensure you don’t behave in this way again.”
He fined him £1,335.
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