Man narrowly avoids jail for violent assault
A MAN from Lerwick who left his victim lying in a pool of their own blood after a brutal assault has narrowly avoided a jail sentence.
Wayne Hunter, 37, of Sandveien, had previously admitted to assaulting the man at an address in the town on 26 September 2024.
His victim had to be taken to hospital for treatment and was left with a deviated nasal septum as well as a three centimetre laceration under his left eye.
Sentencing had been deferred last month for the preparation of background reports.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said Hunter had been drinking in pubs that day following a funeral.
He said he had been given “false information” about someone else relating to a family situation, with Hunter attending at the man’s address at around 9pm.
The victim “was immediately set upon by the accused”, Mackenzie said, with Hunter repeatedly punching him in the head.
He said the man was knocked to the floor and at one point lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, Hunter had gone, the court heard.
When police arrived at the property, they found the victim “bleeding quite heavily on the ground”, with the room in disarray and a “pool of blood” located where the man had been lying unconscious.
Hunter had been identified as a suspect, the court heard, and DNA was recovered from a black tie and sunglasses which he had left at the property.
The victim had multiple bruises and required treatment for the cut under his left eye.
Defence agent Gregor Kelly said this had been a “mistake of acute grief and emotional distress” after Hunter had attended a difficult funeral earlier in the day.
Kelly also passed on letters of support from Hunter’s partner and his employer.
He referred to the incident as a “one-off aberration” and said it had been a long time since Hunter had been involved in a violent incident.
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald disagreed with that assessment, however, and called it an “extremely serious assault”.
She said Hunter had violent past and told him that she could “just send you to jail today”.
Instead, however, she decided to place him under supervision for the maximum period of three years.
She also ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work over the next 12 months.
The sheriff warned Hunter that this was a direct alternative to a custodial sentence and said he could be jailed if he failed to co-operate with either part of the sentence.
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