Sheriff wants update on victim’s condition

Sentence will not be passed until extent of injuries are known

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If the injuries as narrated are borne out by a medical report then Mr Morris is extremely fortunate he is appearing ona summary complaint of assault to injury. SHERIFF SIMON COLLINS

A sheriff has ordered a full medical update on a Forfar assault victim before he passes sentence on the assailant.

Sheriff Simon Collins said he was not prepared to deal with Kieran Morris until he knew the extent of Liam Taylor’s injuries.

Mr Taylor was reported to have been left with a double fracture of the skull after Morris knocked him to the ground with a single punch outside the town’s Old Masons pub on September 16.

Morris admitted two separate charges of assault to injury when he appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court yesterday.

Mr Taylor was one of two people attacked by Morris the day after his 22nd birthday, when celebrations with family and friends turned sour.

Depute fiscal Jill Drummond said the first assault happened outside the pub just after midnight.

The accused arrived, went inside for a few minutes and then came back out and punched his victim once, causing him to strike his head on the pavement.

Less than half an hour later Morris was seen by police in an agitated state outside the town’s Royal nightclub.

When the officers looked in their rear view mirror they saw him in a fight with another man.

Both incidents were captured on CCTV.

Ms Drummond said Mr Taylor had been advised by his doctor to go to A&E for a CT scan and had reported he suffered a double fracture to his skull behind the ear. He also told police he suffered a broken eye socket.

When the fiscal said the information had not come from an official medical report Sheriff Collins said he was not prepared to dispose of the matter until the full extent of Mr Taylor’s injuries was confirmed.

“If the injuries as narrated are borne out by a medical report then Mr Morris is extremely fortunate he is appearing on a summary complaint of assault to injury,” he said.

“There may well be a question of compensation for the injuries sustained. I make no conclusion. I am simply registering my concerns at the scale of the injuries now being narrated.”

Defence solicitor Nick Markowski said his client had gone home to change during the night out and became agitated when he returned and his girlfriend was missing.

“He has very limited recollection of the incident, both complainers are people that he would consider to be his pals,” he added.

Morris, of Thornton Park, Forfar, will return to court on November 16.

gbrown@thecourier.co.uk