A painter and graffiti artist needed multiple stitches after being stabbed in the head by a man who’d invited him to his flat.
Perpetrator Rickie Tait, 40, was also found with almost £2,000 worth of cocaine at Ninewells Hospital after receiving treatment for an injury sustained in the attack.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Craig Johnston was asked round to Tait’s Grampian Gardens flat by his ex-partner on November 1 last year for a quote on a painting job.
An argument broke out and Tait struck Mr Johnston with a knife, piercing the baseball cap he was wearing and leaving a large gash.
Despite denying carrying out the attack, both Tait and Mr Johnston’s DNA was recovered on the knife, with police later finding the blade discarded and bloodstained on nearby Cheviot Crescent, in Fintry.
The court heard that Tait, who was also injured in the confrontation, was taken to Ninewells Hospital for treatment.
It was there he was found in possession of 19g of cocaine, which was valued at £1,900.
Mr Johnston, who was unknown to Tait, required multiple stitches in his head as a result of Tait’s violent assault, the court heard. A jury found Tait, a prisoner in Perth, guilty of acting in an aggressive manner as well as threatening violence at Grampian Gardens on November 1 last year.
He was also convicted of striking Mr Johnston on the head with a knife to his severe injury on the same date.
Tait was further found guilty of being in possession of cocaine, a Class A drug, the following day.
A charge of assaulting his ex- partner by repeatedly punching her on the head during the same incident was found not proven.
Following Tait’s conviction, Sheriff Lorna Drummond deferred sentence until later this month for a criminal justice social work report.
He was remanded in custody meantime.
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