A 20-year-old Inverness man has avoided jail after hitting another man over the head with a bar stool.
Lewis Kellacher was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work yesterday, which he was warned was a “direct alternative” to custody.
Kellacher, of 85 Oldtown Road, had admitted assaulting the man to his injury on a previous appearance at Inverness Sheriff Court.
The attack happened in the King’s Highway bar in Church Street on February 7 this year.
His victim sustained a 3in gash on his head and required five stitches, fiscal depute Martine Eastwood told the court.
Kellacher, an apprentice scaffolder, appeared for sentence yesterday, and defence agent Patrick O’Dea said his client was keen to apologise to his victim, who was described as “no longer a friend”.
Mr O’Dea said: “He is sorry for his conduct and knows there is no excuse for it.”
He added: “Mr Kellacher assures me that there will be no repetition of this type of behaviour.
“He is a young man who does have a moral compass and is able to reflect on the rank stupidity of his past actions.”
Sheriff Margaret Neilson ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work within the next year, as a direct alternative to custody.