A thug who left a friend brain damaged after they had been out watching a Scotland match has been jailed for seven and a half years.
David Gibson had been freed on bail just a day before he turned on Derrick Smith near a church in Dundee.
The 34 year-old left his victim for dead before confessing to a stranger in the street he had been in an “argument”.
Mr Smith, 46, was so badly hurt, he could only initially be identified from a tattoo he had.
He is now cared for in a nursing home.
Gibson pled guilty in April to attempted murder and was sentenced by judge Lady Stacey at the High Court in Glasgow.
As well as the jail term, he will be supervised for a further two years on his release.
No memory of attack
Prosecutor Ali Murray told the earlier hearing Gibson had been subject of three separate bail orders at the time of his savage attack.
The last was when he was freed by a sheriff on May 31 2022, having been charged with assault.
The next day, Gibson, Mr Smith and a female friend went to a bar in Dundee to watch the Scotland and Ukraine World Cup play-off match on TV.
They were described as in “good spirits”.
After the football, the woman left the pair, who ended up walking at the rear of St Paul’s church and a Mecca Bingo in the city’s Nethergate.
Mr Murray said Mr Smith was unable to recall what then occurred.
But Gibson admitted in court that he struck his friend before repeatedly stamping on his head and body.
Found behind church
The next morning, a passer-by found Mr Smith still lying stricken behind the church.
Mr Murray said: “When she approached him, he was only grunting.
“His mouth was covered in blood and his nose bleeding.
“His face was swollen, his eyes bruised and swollen shut.”
Mr Smith was rushed to Ninewells, where medics told police his condition – including fractures and a serious brain injury – was life-threatening.
Mr Murray said: “Due to the extent of his facial injuries, officers could only identify him from a tattoo on his left shoulder.”
Mr Smith was discharged from intensive care two weeks later and transferred to a specialist brain unit.
The court heard he can no longer live independently and is cared for in a nursing home in Fife.
Mr Murray said: “There may be some improvement, but he will not make a full recovery.”
Identified by lack of front teeth
The court heard Gibson approached a woman after the attack stating him and a “friend” had “argued”.
Gibson claimed he had been “threatened” during the row.
The thug said he had left the man at the back of the church and when he returned two hours later, he was still not awake.
Police later found him in Nethergate.
He was identified as the man who approached the stranger due to him having no front teeth.
The jail-term was cut from 10 years due to the guilty plea.
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