Man ordered to pay £3,000 compensation after assault

A 20-YEAR-OLD man from Oban has to pay £3,000 in compensation after assaulting three people.

As well as paying each of the victims £1,000, Craig MacIver of Lorne View, Ardconnel Road, has been ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and isn’t allowed to enter a licensed premises for 12 months.

MacIver pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and was sentenced at Oban Sheriff Court on Tuesday March 27. He admitted punching a woman on the head, as well as headbutting a man and spitting on another.

In MacIver’s defence, his solicitor Laura McManus said although her client had a ‘bad record for someone of his years, he is in a very different place now’.

Mrs McManus explained: ‘He had no recollection because he was so intoxicated. He has therefore recognised he has a difficulty with alcohol.’

Sheriff Patrick Hughes said: ‘You do have a bad record and this is a deeply disturbing offence, in particular, spitting on someone is a uniquely disgusting thing to do. You are at a stage in life where you could go either way.’

In addition to compensation and being banned from pubs and hotels, MacIver is to attend social work meetings for 12 months to address alcohol problems. Sheriff Hughes said these were a direct alternative to custody.