Pensioner brutally assaulted by thug

AN army veteran who was left with broken ribs and a collapsed lung during a violent assault has branded his attacker “scum”, as the thug faces jail.

Alan Waterston (right) turned up at 69-year-old Ian Beat’s door in Dundee’s Whitfield Rise thinking it was his friend’s home. When Mr Beat answered, Waterston, 27, forced himself inside and a struggle ensued.

Dundee Sheriff Court was told that Waterston’s attack had a “devastating effect” on the 69-yearold’s life.

Fiscal depute Vicki Bell said Mr Beat managed to escape from the house into the garden with Waterston left locked in until police arrived.

She told the court: “The complainer was found bleeding and struggling to breathe.

“An ambulance was called and the complainer was taken to hospital having suffered a number of injuries. “That included a punctured and collapsed lung, and two fractured ribs.

“A chest drain was inserted to remove fluid from the lung and he was in hospital for several days, during which time he contracted pneumonia.

“It is fair to say this has had a devastating impact on his life.”

Waterston, of Ballindean Road, pleaded guilty on indictment to assaulting Mr Beat on February 26.

Defence solicitor Jim Caird said: “I express on his behalf that he is extremely remorseful about this matter.

“He had been drinking, his personal problems had got on top of him and this was a bizarre, inexplicable attendance at this house thinking it was his friend’s door — which is a similar house in the vicinity.”

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael deferred sentence until February and released Waterston on bail meantime.

Mr Beat, who served in the army for five years and latterly taught English in Korea, said: “It’s taken a year to recover. I’m quite tough mentally, but physically it took its toll.

“Thankfully I’m on the mend and can start to put it behind me. There are nutters like that everywhere running about. I seem to just have been unlucky.

“The guy is scum, though. If he was hit by a bus on his way to court I wouldn’t shed a tear for him.”

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