Two Angus men who beat a fellow drinker in a street “stramash” were fined and ordered to pay their victim compensation on Thursday.
One of the accused was responsible for rendering the man briefly unconscious in the early hours attack in Brechin, which a sheriff said could easily have been avoided if they had simply walked away.
Appearing in the dock were Dale Forbes, 29, of Provost Buchan Road, Brechin, and David Milne, 23, of Christies Lane, Montrose.
They admitted assaulting another man in Brechin High Street on March 10 Forbes by punching his face and attempting to stamp on him and Milne by punching him on the head, rendering him unconscious.
Depute fiscal Eilidh Robertson said the incident happened in the early hours after an argument in a local pub had spilled out into the street.
CCTV footage showed the victim being restrained by friends during the argument, before both accused came over to him.
The video showed Forbes punching the victim once and Milne then getting involved.
“In the footage the complainer seems to be lying on the ground motionless,” said the fiscal.
“Paramedics attended and by that point the complainer had regained consciousness.
“He was found to have a small cut near his eye and blood coming from his ear. He was taken to Ninewells and found to be extremely intoxicated but did not require further medical treatment.”
Solicitor Nick Markowski, for Forbes, said words had been exchanged earlier and it was unfortunate that they then met outside the pub.
Milne’s agent Bob Bruce said his client had been with a friend some 40 yards away from the incident and crossed the road to become involved.
“He is absolutely adamant that the complainer punched him, knocking his spectacles off, and they cost him £150 to replace.
“There is a stramash and it is very difficult to see from the CCTV exactly what happened. He had drunk too much on the night, that’s the sum of it.”
Sheriff Kevin Veal said: “This assault was quite unnecessary and would never have happened if they had left the scene.”
He fined each accused £300 and also ordered them to pay £100 compensation each to the victim.