A thug who dodged prison for a Halloween scissor attack which left a schoolboy scarred for life has continued to walk free despite admitting a catalogue of further crimes.
Reece Duncan, 20, left a 15-year-old boy lying in a pool of blood after stabbing him several times during an orgy of drink-fuelled Halloween violence.
Duncan walked free from Perth Sheriff Court in November 2022 with a warning that his age – he was 18 at the time – had helped to keep him out of custody.
Since then Duncan has continued to avoid custody despite admitting a list of offending including having weapons, defying bail, vandalism and threatening behaviour.
Duncan, Bute Drive, admitted five new cases at the court, but Sheriff William Wood deferred sentence for good behaviour until 29 January and released him on bail again.
The court heard that Duncan pulled a baseball bat on two of his neighbours after hearing them making death threats towards him from the common close outside his home. He admitted having an offensive weapon in Bute Drive, Perth, on July, 5 2024.
He admitted breaching a court curfew on June, 15 2021 – just four days after it was imposed. He admitted a similar offence between 4 and 6 January 2023.
Duncan admitted smashing up two cars with a hammer in Carnegie Place, Perth, on May, 26 2024, and acting in a threatening manner on September 27 by shouting aggressively and making racist remarks.
Sheriff Wood told Duncan: “You are constantly a source of disappointment to me. Having been involved in a rather ugly incident in October 2020, you were made aware this behaviour wouldn’t be tolerated.
“I thought that close encounter with custody might help moderate your behaviour. You have been on bail since then. I am not going to send you to prison today.
“You are only 20 years of age. You have been in the justice system some time now, and it’s about time you started to show some results. There has been a lot of investment and people involved in helping you through difficult times you have had and it is time you helped yourself and stopped getting in more bother.
“None of your offences show you are a good member of society, rather than one of its hangers-on. You need to start making better choices or it will be inevitable that I send you to prison.
The accused thanked him after the sheriff admonished him for the Halloween scissor attack.
The victim, who was attacked as he tried to defend other children from Duncan’s attacks, needed emergency surgery after being stabbed through to the bone and losing 250 mls of blood.
Duncan left his victim for dead after biting him and repeatedly plunging a pair of scissors into his leg to his severe injury. Duncan had downed “any number” of bottles of tonic wine before attacking several schoolchildren on an island on the River Tay in Perth.
In 2022, Duncan admitted striking a 15-year-old boy in the face repeatedly on Moncrieffe Island in Perth on October, 31 2020.
He admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing and threatening several youngsters by telling them he had a knife. He admitted that he acted with another by attacking another 15-year-old boy by repeatedly punching him on the head.
And Duncan finally admitted that while he was acting with another, he attacked a third 15-year-old boy to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement. He admitted punching him on the head and body, struggling with him, causing him to fall to the ground, biting him on the face and repeatedly striking him on the body with a pair of scissors.
Fiscal depute Joanne Ritchie told the court there were a number of unprovoked incidents, including threatening to kill girls if they refused to hand him alcohol.
The boy who was stabbed bravely intervened to try and prevent Duncan attacking another boy and he punched Duncan on the nose and knocked him over.
“The accused pulled the boy to the ground and bit him on the cheek. The boy kept punching him. The fight lasted a few minutes. A witness was heard saying ‘he’s been stabbed.’ The boy was lying on the ground and the accused was repeatedly hitting his face, body and legs.
“The accused had something in his hand. The accused struck him several times to the body and leg. Witnesses observed the accused with scissors. The boy had pain to his face, body and legs and was lying on the ground. A number of people assisted him. They applied pressure to the wound.”
She told the court that the blade had penetrated through to the femur and the boy required emergency surgery after being taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. Sheriff William Wood placed Duncan on the Right Track programme for young offenders at that stage. The same court heard today that Duncan had completed 274 hours of unpaid work on the project.
The sheriff said: “Clearly the incidents of 31 October 2020 were appalling. Here you were attacking people in a way that was totally out of control. You put yourself in a situation where you didn’t know what you were doing. If you had been over 18 I would almost certainly have sent you to detention.
“You can’t go around stabbing people. Taking your age into account, you are getting the chance to see how things go in the community.”
In a previous groundbreaking case, Duncan was the 15-year-old boy who had a special courtroom up to stage his trial for “psychological domestic abuse”.
Duncan could not be named at the time as he became the youngest person to be prosecuted under new legislation aimed at targeting psychological bullying in relationships.
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter.