by Craig Borland

A CLYDEBANK man who assaulted his father's friend outside a Dalmuir pub has been told he was lucky not to end up being charged with murder.

Martin Baillie's victim fell and struck his head on the ground after being punched on the head in Dalmuir Square.

Thirty-year-old Baillie pleaded guilty to a charge of punching his 62-year-old man to his severe injury in the incident on October 2 last year.

He was originally charged with assaulting the man to his permanent disfigurement, but that element of the charge was deleted before Baillie's guilty plea.

When Baillie, of Orbiston Place in Faifley, appeared for sentencing at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on August 16, Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told him he was fortunate his victim had not been more seriously injured.

“You pled guilty to assault, not in the terms originally libelled,” Sheriff Hendry said.

“If it had been in those terms it might have been impossible for me to avoid sending you to prison.

“When you punch a person on the head and he falls and strikes his head on the ground, what happens thereafter is beyond anyone's control. A single fall and strike to the head frequently leads to a murder charge in the High Court.

“From that point on it was in the lap of the gods whether you were facing life imprisonment or the sentence I am going to impose today.

“Your record indicates you are not a man of violence. It now does. And if you use violence again I will be sending you to prison.”

Brian McGuire, defending, told the court Baillie's father had told him about “some difficulty” with the other gentleman, and that after the assault Baillie, who had been playing golf earlier in the day, had immediately gone to fetch a towel from his golf bag to attend to his victim's injuries.

“His reaction was entirely inappropriate,” Mr McGuire said.

“He made a bad mistake. It could have been much more serious but fortunately turned out not to be so.”

Baillie was told to carry out 210 hours of unpaid work – reduced from 280 because of his guilty plea – and to pay £1,000 in compensation to his victim.