A Fife man who stabbed his friend in the face just hours before sexually assaulting a schoolgirl has been handed the latest in “a life sentence by instalment”.
James Marshall carried out the attacks during a 24-hour period of mayhem in which he was drinking continuously.
The 25-year-old was handed a custodial sentence and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
Solicitor Martin Maguire, defending, said Marshall accepted that he would be jailed for the offences.
He said: “He had only recently been released from a custodial sentence and quickly fell into substance and alcohol misuse.”
He added Marshall had suffered trauma in his childhood but “doesn’t seek to excuse his behaviour”.
Stabbed friend in face
The court had previously heard how Marshall punctured Ryan Ure’s face with a blade after an argument about a missing e-cigarette and mobile phone.
Mr Ure had the items when he arrived and confronted Marshall when he noticed they were missing.
Expecting Mr Ure to “kick off”, Marshall struck him in the face with a Stanley blade.
He was left with a puncture wound to the left side of his face and an injured hand.
He told police it was from punching his attacker but refused to reveal Marshall’s identity.
Sexual assault
The following morning Marshall carried out a sex attack on a 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after agreeing to meet up at a party in Buckhaven.
Marshall arrived with others, including the girl, at around 11.30am.
He became drunk after bringing a bottle of vodka and a can of Dragon Soop with him.
Marshall and the teenager left the property and at Lawrence Court, he sexually assaulted her by placing his hands inside her underwear.
She had to drop to her knees to wriggle free.
‘Life sentence by instalments’
When Marshall was arrested in relation to the attack, he unwittingly gave away his role in the stabbing, asking police: “Is this about the Ryan Ure thing?”
At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, Marshall, a prisoner at Perth, admitted sexually assaulting the girl at a property in Lawrence Court, Buckhaven on November 16 last year.
He further admitted striking Ryan Ure with a knife at an address in the town’s Factory Road the day before.
Sentencing him, Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane said: “It seems to me that from about 2017 you started what I would describe as a life sentence by instalments, because I’m sending you back to prison.
“I’m hoping you come out and changes have been made which allow you to integrate into society, otherwise that life sentence will go on and on and on.”
She jailed him for 27 months and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
