Summary cases which called at Forfar Sheriff Court

Gary Higgins Brown, 43, of North Grimsby, Arbroath, admitted assaulting a male complainer in the Millgate Bar, Arbroath, on November 27 2017, punching him on the head.

Depute fiscal Bill Kermode said: “At 12.45am the complainer entered the locus and approached the bar where the accused appeared to be heavily under the influence of alcohol. The accused and complainer appeared to have a minor disagreement and shook hands.

“A barmaid told both parties to behave and they separated.

“Thirty seconds later, accused punched him once to the side of the heard and he lost consciousness for one minute.”

Police found the accused outside the nearby Devito’s nightclub at 2.16am and he told them “he hit me first” before he was cautioned and charged.

Defence agent Billy Rennie said his client had been in “high spirits” at the bar before he was slapped by the complainer.

“There was clearly some time between this happening and the punch so there’s no suggestion of self-defence,” he said.

Brown was fined £375.

Stephen Beech, 38, of Watson Street, Letham, admitted driving under the influence of drink on the Woodville to Cononsyth road outside Arbroath on March 17 this year.

The court heard the delivery driver was stopped at a routine police checkpoint and officers smelled alcohol.

A breath test recorded breath alcohol of 68 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath, where the legal limit is 22 mics.

Analogous previous convictions were admitted and sentence was deferred to July 6 for reports.