Police are investigating a second serious assault in Inverness – just 24 hours after an alleged stabbing in the city.
A 48-year-old man is in a serious condition in Inverness’s Raigmore Hospital following the most recent incident in the Hilton area.
A 43-year-old has been detained by the police, who are appealing for witnesses to the attack in Balloan Road on Thursday night.
Details emerged yesterday as a man appeared in private at Inverness Sheriff Court on an attempted murder charge following an incident the previous day.
Sean Boyle, 20, also faced charges of possessing two knives and assault in connection with an incident in Diriebught Court in the city on Wednesday.
He made no plea and was committed for further re-examination and remanded in custody.
His alleged victim, named locally as Sean Pierce, remained in Raigmore Hospital, where his condition was described as stable last night.
It is understood Thursday’s incident took place in a car park in front of a block of flats halfway along Balloan Road.
A witness reported seeing two men arguing before police swooped on the area.
The woman said: “We just heard shouting and bawling because our living room window at the back was open and we looked out and saw two police vans in the car park.
“My partner said he saw one man being arrested.
“The person was kicking the van and he was obviously angry about being taken away.”
Police said inquiries into the incident were continuing.
At Diriebught Court yesterday, youngsters were playing on grass which had been swarming with forensic teams 24 hours earlier.
One man said he was relieved to be able to re-enter the neighbourhood, which had been cordoned off for almost 20 hours, as he had been forced to miss his work because he could not retrieve his parked car.
He said: “There have been ongoing disputes in the area, always around the same place, and there was my car in the middle of a crime scene.
“People there are just trying to get on with their lives, including some who have lived there for years and years, and it is not fair on them.”
Councillor Jimmy Gray, Highland Council’s convener, said he had no specific knowledge of Wednesday’s incident, but had been informed of other disturbances in the area.
“There have been issues for some time at Diriebught Court, and some concerns about residents’ behaviour have been raised by constituents,” he said.
“It is really quite worrying for this to be happening in what is a good residential area.
“I would urge people to get in touch with the council, or if there are more serious issues then contact the police – this is the only way to solve these.”