AFTER DELIBERATING for more than four hours, a jury found a Pitlochry man guilty of permanently scarring a 13-year-old boy with a sharp implement in an unprovoked attack.

At Perth Sheriff Court yesterday John Clark (52), of Ferry Road, Pitlochry, was convicted by majority of assaulting the boy at Ferry Road on July 15, seizing him by the throat, cutting him on the arms and body with a sharp implement, and threatening him with violence, all to his injury and permanent disfigurement.

He was unanimously found guilty of having a Stanley knife on Ferry Road on that date but not guilty by majority of having a cut-throat razor there.

At the conclusion of the prosecution evidence, depute fiscal Chris Macintosh had withdrawn a charge which alleged that Clark assaulted the boy’s father, pushed him and attempted to strike him with a knife.

Clark had denied all charges against him.

Sheriff Robert McCreadie deferred sentence until May 29 for the preparation of background reports.

During the week-long trial, evidence was heard from the boy’s father who said that on the evening of July 15 he and his wife were at home when, at around 9pm, Clark’s wife came to the door.

She said some boys had written some graffiti on their fence and that their son was in a group which were in the area.

The man told the court Mrs Clark “was at pains to point out” their son was not responsible but had come to the door because she recognised him as being part of the larger group and sought more information.

The man described Mrs Clark as “somewhat agitated” and he recalled that she said, “if John finds out he’ll be raging.”

The boy was then spoken to by his father and he made it clear he had not written the graffiti.

Shortly after, Clark was seen to come out of his driveway and “head towards us” in a “determined” fashion.

He told the court, “Mr Clark made a beeline straight for my son and made a comment along the lines of ‘I’ve had enough of this.’

“My son responded in words of protest to indicate it wasn’t him. I made words in his defence.”

He continued, “I was pushed aside and told to keep out of it and he barged past my wife and made a lunge to my son.

“This had already escalated way beyond anything we had expected and I jumped at Mr Clark to take him off my son.

“He was reaching for his upper body and neck.

“My son was being attacked and I reacted in an automatic fashion.

“I pulled him over and we both went down on the ground with Mr Clark on top.

“There was a struggle on the ground and my son came over in an effort to get Mr Clark off me.

“I shouted at him to get back. One of the kids shouted ‘there’s a knife’.”

At that point it became clear the boy was bleeding from his right arm and his mother was assisting him.

He recalled that Mrs Clark shouted, “John, John, what have you done? Look what you’ve done” and then ushered her husband away.

The boy’s mother collected a Stanley knife from the area of the incident.

He was treated for a deep cut which had gone through the muscle.

It took two months for the injury to heal but he has been left with a permanent scar. He also sustained minor cuts to his arms and body.

The boy also gave evidence and told the court Clark had grabbed him by the throat and that when he noticed he was cut he “felt really sick.”