A 68-year-old man who struck a drinking companion over the head with a whisky bottle after an argument escaped a jail sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday.
William Friel, of 68 Ashton Road, Inverness, had earlier pleaded guilty to assaulting Robert Taylor to his injury at a drinking get-together in a house in Mackintosh Road, Inverness on November 16, 2014.
The court was told that Friel had mistakenly picked up the alcohol thinking it was one of his bottles of wine and made to go home with it.
But Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood was told that Mr Taylor spotted Friel’s error, there was a struggle and he ended up with wounds requiring 12 stitches.
Fiscal Roderick Urquhart said: “The house has a reputation of being a drinking den. Friel had arrived with several bottles of wine and after a considerable amount of alcohol was consumed, he went to leave and took with him a bottle of whisky by mistake instead of one of his bottles of wine.
“Mr Taylor was unhappy about this and there was a brief struggle during which Friel’s glasses were broken when he was struck in the face.
“The incident ended with Friel striking Taylor on the head with the whisky bottle which broke, injuring him. Taylor refused an ambulance and went home.”
Mr Urquhart said Taylor went to hospital later that night under the influence of alcohol and was treated for lacerations to his forehead and the top of his head.
Taylor then reported the matter to the police later that day.
Friel was arrested by police on the morning of November 18 but was not sober enough to be interviewed immediately. He later told police : “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
Sentence was deferred until yesterday for a background report and defence lawyer Marc Dickson said his client regretted what he had done.
He added: “He was with two others and they all have problems with alcohol. The drinking had been going on for two weeks beforehand.
“He is not on good terms with the victim who made reference to my client’s wife in derogatory terms. Although he was separated a few years ago, he and his wife are now reunited and he acts as her carer.
“He had come off worse in a previous altercation with the complainer and was struck in the face before he truck out with the bottle which he had just picked up.”
Sheriff Fleetwood referred to the background report and said: “He has a lengthy record, some of it for violence so I don’t see how the report can say he can not be a risk to the community.”
But he refrained from jailing the pensioner, ordered him to remain under supervision for two years and ordered him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work as part of a community payback order.