Pole attack thug caged

Drunk battered man in bar room brawl

A thug with a short fuse is behind bars after battering his victim with a wooden pole outside a popular nightspot.

Nathan Campbell, 20, was so drunk, he could barely remember the attack outside Cheeky Charlie’s in Troon’s Templehill.

He had gone to the bar after securing a new job with better pay on April 25.

But the night- on- the- tiles spiralled out of control and Campbell attacked fellow reveller Barry Muir.

Campbell hit the man with his elbow, causing him to bang his head on a wall, knocking him out.

When Muir regained consciousness he realised he had lost a tooth and could taste blood, and he asked Campbell if he was responsible.

Callous Campbell swore at his victim and added: “What about it?” before grabbing a wooden pole and hitting Muir. The attack left Muir with a fractured finger and the pole snapped.

Party goers rallied and, along with Muir, chased Campbell towards Portland Street, where he was arrested.

Campbell pled guilty at Ayr Sheriff Court to an amended charge of assaulting Muir to his severe injury .

Not guilty pleas were accepted to charges he repeatedly punched and kicked another man during the same melee and that he waved the wooden pole at police officers and tried to head butt them.

Campbell’s defence agent Neil McCulloch said his client was suffering from mental health problems at the time.

He added: “This is clearly a very unpleasant incident. Mr Campbell’s recollection as to what happened that evening is not particularly good.

“He is frankly somewhat bewildered at the manner in which he conducted himself.

“At the time the offence was committed Mr Campbell was suffering from an undiagnosed mental health problem.”

The lawyer said Campbell had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Tourette’s syndrome last year. He has since been told that he also has bipolar disorder.

Sheriff John Montgomery said: “Maybe he’s bewildered, maybe his recollection’s poor, because of the amount of alcohol he’d taken.

“What I’m questioning is the link between that and the commission of the offence. I’m suggesting to you that all the pointers indicate it was drink which led to that.”

The court heard Campbell has a number of previous convictions, including assault, where drinking had been a factor.

Campbell was caged for two years, reduced from 30 months due to his early guilty plea.

Due to time already spent in custody, this will be backdated to April 27.

Campbell, who was handcuffed to a guard, stormed towards a staircase leading to the cells below the court, dragging the guard behind.

The guard told him to “calm down” but angry Campbell barked back: “Come on then, I’m waiting for you to go,” before being taken down to begin his term at Polmont’s Young Offenders Institute.