Moray man sentenced for Elgin High Street assault outside Badenoch’s

A drinker who knocked a man unconscious on Elgin High Street has been ordered to complete unpaid work and compensate his victim.

Sam Scott, of Reiket Lane, appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court last Thursday over an assault outside the Badenoch’s bar on December 17, 2022.

He previously pleaded guilty to the assault.

The court heard that both the 33-year-old and the victim were part of a group standing outside the pub after being asked to leave at around 1.30am.

Fiscal depute David Morton said the two men had “some form of altercation” earlier in the night.

The court heard that Scott “grabbed hold of the complainer”, before delivering “two punches to the side of his head, causing the complainer to fall to the ground and lose consciousness”.

Nearby members of the public went to help the man in the wake of the assault, according to the fiscal.

Multiple people contacted the police about the incident, which was captured on CCTV.

He added: “The complainer was taken to Dr Gray’s and remained there for a period of observation.”

The man received “no substantial medical treatment”, but did sustain a chipped tooth and required dental treatment.

Solicitor Stephen Carty said that Scott had “no real excuse for his actions”, but had recently “turned a significant corner”.

He added that, two years after the assault, the 33-year-old was a “very different man from the one that was involved with this incident”, and now works full time.

Before the start of the incident, Mr Carty said there had been a “general fight” in which Scott had been “trying to calm things down”.

Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov ordered the 33-year-old to complete 180 hours of unpaid work, and to pay the man he assaulted £200 in compensation.

He was also placed under social work supervision for a year.