Inverness teen is tagged after ‘very foul, nasty and violent’ attack on shopkeeper in Highland capital
A teenager who drank daily from the moment he woke up scarred a shopkeeper after he hit him over the head with a bottle of alcohol he had tried to steal.
Dylan Bannister, of Esk Road, Inverness was appearing for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court after previously admitting assaulting the staff member of Station News in Inverness's Farraline Park on March 15, 2023 by repeatedly punching him on the head and striking him on the head with the bottle to his injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment.
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Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald was told that the victim sustained a scar and a hand injury which still caused him pain.
The 19-year-old also admitted assaulting one police officer on May 25 last year in Mackintosh Road, Inverness by spitting in his face and assaulting a second constable by pushing him on the body, causing him to fall backwards.
Defending, Marc Dickson told the court: "All this arose from him suffering from addiction difficulties - not only involving alcohol - which he was drinking daily waking up in the morning.
"He entered the shop and attempted to shoplift alcohol but the complainer reacted robustly and my client reacted to that totally inappropriately.
"He has not offended for a considerable period as he realises that he cannot carry on on the path he was on."
Sheriff Macdonald decided against a custodial sentence, telling Bannister: "If you were over 25 I would send you to jail. But you are only 19.
"This was a very foul, nasty and violent incident, very concerning and dangerous."
She ordered him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work, placed Bannister under 18 months of social work supervision and he has to wear an electronic tag to alert the monitoring authorities if he is outwith his home between 8pm and 6am for the next nine months.
