Man unconscious after headbutt

A thug who knocked a man unconscious in an unprovoked street attack has narrowly avoided a prison sentence.

Duncan Robertson strode up to his victim and headbutted him outside the Perth and District Ex-Servicemens Club on September 24 last year.

Perth Sheriff Court heard the blow landed on the man’s face, instantly knocking him out and causing him to topple backwards into the street.

The heavily inebriated Robertson had to be pulled away by witnesses as others called for an ambulance.

The 46-year-old’s victim was taken to Perth Royal Infirmary where he was treated for a deep laceration above one eyebrow.

It required seven stitches and left him with a permanent scar.

Police officers who attended at the club spoke to the accused who immediately admitted his guilt.

He told them: “Yeah. Hands up. I headbutted the boy. He was winding me up.”

Solicitor Linda Clark said her client – a self-employed joiner – acknowledged his conduct had been “entirely unacceptable”.

She said a considerable amount of alcohol had been taken and that there had been an exchange between the pair at the club’s bar.

Robertson, of Appin Terrace in Perth, admitted assaulting a man to his injury and permanent disfigurement.

He was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and told to pay his victim £800.