Knife thug is facing prison after stabbing man in street fight

Victim needed stitches for chest puncture wound

A knife-wielding thug stabbed a rival in the chest during a savage street fight, a court was told.

Shaven-headed brute Aidan King, 21, plunged a blade into the left hand side of David Millar’s body after the two came to blows in the street last January.

Paisley Sheriff Court heard that King currently in HMP Low Moss, but formerly of Newton Avenue in Barrhead, exploded in violence following a long-standing feud with Mr Millar, when the pair clashed outside the town’s Arthurlie Inns.

Fiscal depute Keri Marshall told the court: “Complainer David Millar and the accused began arguing outside the pub in Main Street and this argument quickly escalated into a stand-up physical fight.

“The fight moved on further down Main Street and at one point the accused produced a black- handled knife and stabbed the complainer on the left-hand side of his torso.

“The accused then crossed the road and entered a nearby takeaway where he was closely pursued by the complainer who attempted to lure the accused outside to fight him.”

The court witnesses saw the bloodstained complainer shouting at the accused in a bid to goad him into continuing their battle.

However police were alerted and when they arrived they saw both King and Millar outside the eaterie, still in the middle of a raging row.

Officers noticed the large blood stain on Millar’s white t-shirt, and he was taken to Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital by ambulance where he received stitches for a three-centimetre puncture wound to the left-hand side of his chest.

King yesterday pleaded guilty to possessing a knife, assaulting David Millar, engaging in a stand-up fight, and striking him on the body with a knife to his severe injury, under provocation.

Defence agent Terry Gallanagh told the court there was ‘bad blood’ between the accused and the complainer dating from when they were both schoolboys.

And on the evening in question, the accused was making his way home when he was spotted by Mr Millar and his pals who had been drinking in the pub, which led to the nasty encounter.

He said: “There was significant provocation in these circumstances.

“This dispute goes back to when both were 13.

“He recognises he will go to prison and has been in custody since the date of his arrest in January.

“He retains the support of his mother and remains in regular contact with her and I would ask the court take into account his plea of guilty.”

Sheriff Robert Fife said King, who has a previous convictions for violence, was going behind bars to reflect the “gravity of the offence.”

He said: “This incident occurred in a public place where you stabbed a male on his body with a knife to his severe injury.

“You have previous convictions for violence and previous custodial sentences, mitigating factors are this incident did occur provocation, but did you did plead guilty at a First Diet, and you are still of a young age.”

He sentenced King to 14 months in prison, backdated from the date of his first court appearance, which was January 16, 2017.