Thug faces prison term

Victim was attacked after chase in Main Street

defence lawyer Laura Greer and this was accepted by the court.

The court heard that around 3.30pm, Grant and his friend Mr Campbell were walking along the Main Street when they saw the victim.

Procurator fiscal depute Cassie Scott said: “The complainer was standing in a lane just off the Main Street, the accused said ‘That’s the boy there’ in the direction of the complainer.

“The complainer came out of the lane on to the roadway and the accused then produced an item, it is labelled as an unknown object because it was never recovered.

“He chased the complainer, the complainer was thereafter punched on his body by the accused with this item in the accused’s hand.”

The court was told Mr Hughes was on the ground in between the parked cars.

Miss Scott added that an off- duty police officer passed and saw the last of the incident.

He chased after Grant and took hold of him.

Mr Hughes was taken to accident and emergency and was found to have suffered a “single puncture wound” on his lower back and grazes to his head and body.

Defence lawyer Ross Yuill said that the men - who knew each other from their school days - had met a short time earlier, that day, when they had meetings at the job centre on the same street.

Mr Yuill said: “There was a brief altercation at the job centre, where some punches were thrown”.

The court was told Grant went into the job centre and around 15 minutes later when he left, saw Mr Hughes and his friends.

Mr Yuill added: “He took the view that they had deliberately waited for him.

“That’s the impression he got, there’s no other reason for them to be standing in what was a dead-end lane.”

He said that the only item his client had with him was a set of keys but that they were lost during the incident.

Sheriff John McCormick deferred sentence on Grant until next year and remanded him in custody.