Man had his nose realigned after attack

A man had his nose“realigned”after he was attacked at a house party in Blairgowrie in the early hours.

Victim Grant Loughton left and went home after the outburst of violence, Perth Sheriff Court was told.

“But when he had a look at his injuries, he decided to call an ambulance,”explained depute fiscal Michael Sweeney.

“He required to go to A&E and later had to have treatment to put his nose back into place.”

His attacker, 24-year-old James Burke, of Kinloch Court, Blairgowrie, was spared a jail term despite recording his third conviction for assault.

Instead, he was ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work in the next six months.

He admitted punching Mr Laughton on the head, to his injury, at a house in Croft Court, Blairgowrie, on August 11, 2018.

Mr Sweeney said Mr Laughton had been standing speaking at the back door of the property.

Burke then came out and punched him on the nose, knocking him backwards.

He could“remember something being shouted”but couldn’t recall what it was.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said the accused did not have a long record but described it as“significant”since 2013.

It included a bottle assault on a youngster in 2017 which attracted a £450 fine and another assault to injury.

He had twice been given community payback orders and that was a“clear indication”of where he was going.

The sheriff added:“The force of the blow in this incident was such that the complainer’s nose had to be re-aligned.”

And he warned Burke:“You will require to think very, very carefully before resorting to violence.”