Thug trio caged for brutal attacks
Sheriff brands assaults ‘ entirely unprovoked’
on September 9 in the lane close to Ailsa Street East.
Tom Connor was on a visit home to Girvan from Jamaica.
He was with friend Craig Murphy and they heard a bottle smash in the unlit lane.
Callum Brown was there with Donner and Brown punched Mr Murphy to the ground.
Mr Murphy required seven stitches in a head wound and had a swollen mouth.
Donner punched Mr Connor, who fell to the ground and could not get back to his feet as his right ankle was broken.
Mr Connor was in A& E for 48 hours and his injury took three months to heal.
Defence lawyer Tony Currie said his client Donner did not even know Mr Mackay but Connor Millar lived in a flat opposite the victim, in the Ballochtoul block.
He pointed out that Donner had called emergency services and put Mr Mackay in the recovery position.
The lawyer said Donner believed he was acting in self- defence when he struck Mr Connor.
It was the early hours of the morning and two young men - Andrew Murphy and Gregor Mackintosh - had joined Craig Murphy and Tom Connor in the lane.
Speaking for Brown, Mr Currie said he had no previous convictions and a history of being in work.
He had come to Girvan from Lanarkshire to take up a job and had been out on the town.
Lawyer Peter Lockhart, for Millar, pointed out that Mr Mackay had been assaulted the day before the attacks by his client and Donner.
He said Donner was the main aggressor, although Millar later became involved.
And he said his client had moved away from Girvan to Ayr in a bid to stay out of trouble.
Sheriff Desmond Leslie called the assaults “entirely unprovoked” before handing out the jail terms.
Donner’s sentence was backdated to September 10 as he has been in custody since that date.
Both Millar and Brown looked stunned at their sentences.
Donner, who has previously served prison time, seemed calm and composed.