Court / Man ordered to pay more than £3k compensation after Lerwick assault

A TWENTY six year old who broke a man’s collarbone during a violent assault outside Trench nightclub has been ordered to pay out more than £3,000 in compensation after appearing at Lerwick Sheriff Court.

Connor Millar, of Hoofields, Lerwick, had previously admitted assaulting two men outside the town bar on 30 December last year.

One was thrown to the ground and repeatedly punched in the head by Millar during the attack, while the other was punched in the head and knocked unconscious on the pavement.

The incident occurred after one of the men challenged Millar about a comment he had made to a woman in their group.

Both men were taken to hospital where, following an x-ray, it turned out the second victim had suffered a fractured collar bone.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said previously that recovery had been slow and painful.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank had agreed to adjourn the case for the preparation of background reports, warning Millar he could be sent to prison.

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The court had heard that Millar had previous convictions for assault.

Returning to Lerwick Sheriff Court today (Wednesday), defence agent Paul Barnett said Millar – who works as a fisherman – was “well thought of and hard-working”.

Millar had “spoken candidly about his shame about appearing back in court” after a lengthy absence.

Barnett said his client had shown “remorse for his conduct and the injuries that were sustained” by the two men he assaulted.

He explained Millar had gone out with two old school friends on the night in question, and was not someone who would usually go out drinking.

“His memory of what happened is less than perfect,” Barnett said.

Millar had made a remark to a female friend of the two complainers “in jest”, his solicitor said, which “wasn’t well received”.

“He absolutely recognises that his response to what happened was completely unacceptable,” Barnett added.

He said Millar was not someone who was likely to ever go out looking for trouble, and had been judged by social work to be at low risk of offending.

Barnett urged Sheriff Cruickshank to deal with the matter by way of a community payback order.

Millar had been saving up since the incident in order to be able to pay the two men compensation, his solicitor said, adding that would give “some sense of restorative justice”.

The sheriff said he would impose a community payback order as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.

He placed Millar under supervision for a period of 18 months, and ordered him to carry out 225 hours of unpaid work within the next year.

Millar was also ordered to pay his two victims a total of £3,500 – of which £750 will go to his first victim, while £2,750 will go to the man who sustained a broken collarbone.