INVERNESS SHERIFF COURT: Street assault at Inverness bar court hears
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A Highland councillor filmed a brutal and ferocious attack on three men outside an Inverness bar over two years ago.
But because of Covid regulations governing social distancing, the dock at Inverness Justice Centre was not big enough to accomodate the four accused when the case was brought to court.
Now that these rules have been relaxed, 29 year old Inverness man Stuart Drummond, 43 year old Karl Hoxby from Newcastle, 22 year old Joshua McCarthy from Manchester and 41 year old John Madine from Blackpool appeared before Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald and pleaded guilty to various charges.
Drummond of Cameron Road, and the three others admitted assaulting one patron of the Sobar in Castle Street on August 29, 2020 by seizing him by the neck, push him on the body, repeatedly punching him to the head and body and knocking him to the ground, all to his injury. He suffered severe bruising, the court was told.
All except Hoxby pleaded guilty to assaulting a second man - a bouncer who had intervened in the initial assault - by repeatedly punching him on the head and body to his injury. He also suffered bruising.
McCarthy and Madine admitted assaulting the third victim - the first man's cousin - by repeatedly punching him on the head and body, knocking him to the ground and repeatedly kicking him on the head and body, all to his severe injury.
The man suffered a fractured cheekbone and broken nose plus damage to his teeth.
Fiscal depute Susan Love said three of the accused were out of town contractors doing road works in the area at the time. The entire group had been outside at the smoking area where there was a minor altercation involving Drummond and the first man.
Councillor Duncan MacPherson filmed the vicious assaults on his mobile phone and handed the footage over to police. It was played for Sheriff Macdonald who asked to see it a second time.
Madine and McCarthy could be seen unleashing a flurry of punches with both fists on the third man as he was pinned against a metal security fence outside the premises.
Deferring sentence on all four until November 21, Sheriff Macdonald told them: "All options are open to the court, including imprisonment."
She continued their bail.
