Court / Jail for Northern Irish man behind ‘vicious and brutal’ assault in Brae

A MAN from Northern Ireland who carried out a “sustained, vicious and brutal assault” hours after arriving in Shetland has been jailed for almost two years.

Patrick McElhatton, from Cookstown, admitted his part in the attack, which was carried out in the car park of Frankie’s fish and chip shop in Brae on 10 September 2023.

McElhatton was told it was only through “extremely good fortune” that his victim was not killed.

The court heard there was “unusual” circumstances to the case, with the victim not known and McElhatton’s co-accused not being involved with the case.

However Lerwick Sheriff Court was shown two lengthy CCTV videos of the assault, which showed McElhatton and another man repeatedly punching and kicking their victim.

At one point McElhatton kneed the man, who was not moving, in the head – while the other man used a traffic cone to repeatedly strike the man’s face.

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At another stage of the video, 27 year old McElhatton rolled the man over to face him before continuing to rain blows down on him.

McElhatton was visibly upset in the dock, and defence agent Tommy Allan said he had refused to watch the CCTV footage.

Allan said he struggled to remember another client in all his years who had been so remorseful about their actions, adding McElhatton had “crumbled” at the knowledge he had been part of the attack.

McElhatton was also severely injured on the night, including being left with a fractured eye socket, although it is not known how.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the local ambulance team had been contacted by an ambulance crew in Northern Ireland about someone injured in Brae, after McElhatton’s partner called with concern for him.

When police and the ambulance arrived at worker’s accommodation in Brae they found a group of men drinking, but McElhatton was not there.

They found McElhatton injured, and he had to be taken to the hospital for treatment.

Mackenzie said he believed some of McElhatton’s colleagues had attacked him after finding out about his victim.

The fiscal said the CCTV footage at Frankie’s was “very good quality”, and that it showed McElhatton pursuing his victim until he fell over.

A “sustained attack” followed, with the victim “offering no resistance”.

The victim was punched on the head repeatedly, kicked on the body and even kneed in the head at one stage.

Mackenzie said the CCTV footage showed McElhatton appearing almost “leisurely” about how he attacked his victim, adding it appeared he was “taking his time over it”.

After the video was shown to Sheriff Ian Cruickshank – which was visible to members of the court on other screens – solicitor Allan admitted the footage was “horrendous”.

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“There’s no way I can minimise what was displayed there,” he added.

Allan said McElhatton was “clearly very drunk” and that not all of his punches could be seen to connect due to his state of inebriation.

“He may not have fully understood what was going on,” he added.

“He may not have realised that attack was as vicious and so callous.”

McElhatton had arrived in Shetland for work in the hours leading up to the incident, and had gone out drinking with colleagues without eating first, Allan said.

He added his client “claims to have no recollection” of the assault.

However he said McElhatton had “crumbled” at the knowledge he had been part of such an attack, and had struggled with the repercussions of that.

Allan said McElhatton’s victim could be seen getting up at the end of the video, though this was “good luck, not good management”.

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And he called it an unusual case, where they had no information on what effect the attack had on the victim.

Custody would be at the forefront of the court’s mind, Allan admitted, but he asked the Sheriff to take recognition of the strength of McElhatton’s remorse.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said he had seen many CCTV videos in his years serving the courts, but that this one was a “particularly sustained, vicious and brutal assault”.

He said his primary concern was how long the assault went on for.

And he added: “It is extremely good fortune that this did not end up with a fatal killing”.

Sheriff Cruickshank said there was no alternative to a custodial sentence, and jailed McElhatton for a total of 22 months.