A man and a woman have avoided going to prison after they carried out a brutal stabbing during a violent street fight in Dyce.
Jordan Argo, 25, and Leah Mackenzie, 24, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where they each admitted attacking the man with a knife during a fight on Wellheads Avenue, Dyce, Aberdeen.
Argo struck the man on the head with the knife, drawing blood, before dropping it, the court heard.
However, as a group of men got the better of Argo, Mackenzie picked up the knife from the ground and stabbed the same man in the stomach.
Sheriff Andrew Miller told the pair they were “fortunate” their victim’s injuries were not more serious.
Started with insults
It was stated that at around 8pm on June 4 2022, a group of males were coming back from the pub when they saw Argo and Mackenzie standing in the window of a nearby flat.
The pair and the group then began to exchange verbal insults, with Argo and Mackenzie stating they would come down, to which the complainer replied: “Go on then.”
Argo and Mackenzie exited the block of flats with Argo in possession of a large kitchen knife.
The man asked Argo what he was going to do with the knife and Argo replied that he was going to stab him.
It was then that Argo moved toward the man with the knife and a fight ensued involving a number of people.
During the fight, Mackenzie was thrown to the ground, which provoked Argo who ran at the man and struck him to the head with the knife, causing him to bleed.
Argo’s victim then immediately retaliated, punching Argo in the face, causing him to fall over and drop the knife.
A friend of the man then picked up the knife and threw it away.
The fight continued with the man and his friends running after Argo.
When they caught him, they dragged him to the ground and assaulted him, kicking him to the head and body.
Mackenzie picked the knife up from the ground and ran over where she stabbed the man once to the stomach before throwing the knife to the ground.
She was grabbed and dragged to the ground by the man before the two became separated.
The victim was seen to be bleeding heavily from his head and torso and his ex-partner took him to her home address where she and his friends administered first aid.
Argo and Mackenzie walked back to the block of flats where Argo was heard to say he “stabbed him to the head” and Mackenzie said: “I stabbed him”.
Police were dispatched and attended the scene where they found a broken knife blade.
Argo and Mackenzie were traced, cautioned and arrested.
Their victim was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he was examined and found to have a laceration to his head and a puncture wound to his torso that required stitches and will leave a permanent scar.
In the dock, Argo and Mackenzie pleaded guilty to one charge of assault with a knife to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Argo admitted a further charge of being in possession of a knife.
‘Particularly stupid’
His defence solicitor, Mike Monro, told the court that his client had acted in a “particularly stupid manner” on the night in question.
However, the lawyer said Argo was disputing that it was he who brought the knife to the fight and claims that he had picked it up off the ground.
Mr Monro said: “He maintains that those involved and who were with the other man were in possession of the knife.
“But my client is not disputing that during the altercation he picked up the blade and went towards the complainer and inflicted the injury to him.”
Mackenzie’s solicitor, Ms Hill, stated that it was her client’s position that she only became involved after Argo was on the ground.
She also claimed it was the other party who turned up to the altercation with the knife.
Sheriff Andrew Miller told the pair: “I do not think either of you has a clear explanation why you got involved and went outside, which resulted in this very serious matter.
“It is fortunate that this person’s injuries were not more serious.”
The sheriff added that both Argo and Mackenzie had previous convictions but had “moved on in life” since this incident.
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Miller sentenced Argo, of Rowett South Avenue, Aberdeen, and Mackenzie, of Wellheads Avenue, Dyce, to a community payback order with supervision for 12 months and ordered each of them to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
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