A dad had his jaw shattered when he was attacked by a gang in Carluke town centre.
The man had gone to Rankin Gait after being told his stepson could be in trouble, Airdrie Sheriff Court was told.
He was then knocked unconscious under a hail of kicks and punches and stabbed with a piece of metal as he lay on the ground.
Three Carluke men – John Gault, 24, of Lanark Road, Stephen Kelly, 28, of Lowriehall Gate, and Alexander Sirrell, 34, of Roseneath Gardens – and Shaun Thorpe, 28, of Kelvin Gardens, Hamilton, admitted assaulting the man to his severe injury on May 25, 2023.
Sirrell also admitted chasing the victim’s stepson and striking him on the body with the piece of metal. All but Kelly were on bail for other matters at the time.
Kevin Morrow, prosecuting, said the victim went to the area between 8pm and 9pm after a phone call informing him that his stepson “might be in some trouble”.
Mr Morrow told the court: “He arrived to find a group of males around his stepson.
“The man asked them what had happened and a fight broke out. He was knocked to the ground and Gault, Thorpe and Kelly then inflicted numerous kicks to his head and body whereby he was rendered unconscious.
“While still on the ground he was approached by Sirrell who struck him twice on the head with a piece of metal.”
The victim attended hospital where an x-ray revealed a fractured jaw. This required him to stick to a ‘soft’ diet for a period of time. He also had a cut to his scalp.
Mr Morrow said the impact of the assault was such that the victim “felt the need to move out of the local area”.
The prosecution accepted that Sirrell struck the stepson with the metal under provocation, having been punched by him. The young victim sustained a minor cut to his shoulder.
Gault also admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner in High Street, Carluke, on November 8, 2023.
On that occasion, the court heard, a woman was phoned by her son shortly after 10pm. He asked her to pick him up from a takeaway.
She arrived to find that staff had locked him inside the shop, with Gault standing outside shouting abuse at him.
Mr Morrow stated: “Gault then approached the woman and said he was going to assault her son because he was a grass.
“Members of the public encouraged Gault to leave but he pulled out a firework which he lit and threw on to the street where it exploded, placing people in a state of fear and alarm.
“The police were contacted and Gault was arrested.”
Sheriff Derek Livingston called for background reports and deferred sentence on all four accused until next month.
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