An Aberdeen man has been jailed for two city centre assaults – one of which was on a 15-year-old boy.
Tristrum Hutchison head-butted the child, resulting in the boy losing some of his teeth, while an unrelated one-punch attack outside a nightspot left his victim permanently disfigured.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told Hutchison attacked the youth at around 6.40pm on November 24 2022 and came after Hutchison’s girlfriend, who works in a beauty salon on Crown Street, called him to say a group of youths was standing outside the shop.
Accused arrived and began shouting
Depute fiscal Andrew McMann explained that Hutchison, 36, arrived by car a few minutes later and approached the group “shouting incoherently”.
Mr McMann went on: “[Hutchison] then head-butted the complainer to the mouth and shouted. ‘You think you’re hard banging on the window?’.
“He then returned to his vehicle and drove away.”
The police traced Hutchison after looking at CCTV footage and he was arrested.
While in custody he told police: “My partner called me and said kids were banging on her work window. I drove there and confronted them.
“I didn’t plan on going that far, but he deserved it”.
Mr McMann said: “In reply to caution and charge, [Hutchison] replied – ‘He f***ing deserved it’.”
The boy was left with a bleeding lip and damaged teeth, the court was told. When several of his teeth became dead and discoloured some had to be removed.
Second assault detailed
On September 1, 2023, Hutchison left Paramount Bar at around 12.40am and was seen in conversation with his victim in the smoking area near the front door.
Mr McMann said: “[Hutchison] then punched the complainer to the head, knocking him unconscious to the ground.
“He was lying motionless on the pavement for approximately a minute before appearing to regain consciousness.”
When police arrived on the scene, the victim was still lying on the ground with a “substantial” head injury, the court heard.
Victim taken to hospital
Hutchison was detained by the Paramount Bar door stewards and his victim was taken to hospital.
He was given stitches and has been left with permanent scarring.
Defence solicitor David Sutherland said there had been a background of teenagers hanging around his partner’s place of work and he had been “clearly wound up”.
He added: “Regrettably he reacted in the way he did and has pled guilty to.
“There was an ongoing issue with youths banging on the windows – it got so bad she has since left that employment.”
Regarding the incident outside Paramount Bar a year later, Mr Sutherland said his client had thought the victim was someone who had previously assaulted him.
He said: “This clearly exceeded self-defence, it was one strike.
“That goes together with the background that he believed this man was involved in the assault on him previously.”
Sentencing
Sheriff Philip Mann said these were two assaults leading to injury and disfigurement and unrelated “on the face of it”.
He said: “It seems to me there was no need at all to take this course of action. Other steps could have been taken to disperse the youths – the police could have been called.
“I consider custody is the only appropriate disposal in this case – given the seriousness of the offending.”
Hutchison, of Portland Street, Aberdeen, was jailed for 16 months.