Man, 34, cleared of stabbing at Dundee pub

A man has been cleared of stabbing another man at a pub in Dundee.

John Cochrane, 34, stood trial at Dundee Sheriff Court accused of punching and stabbing Sean O’Brien, 32, on the body to his injury and permanent disfigurement.

The attack was alleged to have happened at the Cutty Sark pub in Mid Craigie on May 7.

Cochrane, whose address was given as HMP Perth, was due to stand trial for the offence but the Crown accepted his not guilty plea as the hearing got under way.

However, he was handed a three-month prison sentence after admitting having cannabis resin — a Class B drug — in his possession at police headquarters on May 22.

The sentence was backdated to May 23 when Cochrane had first been remanded in custody.

The Tele previously reported that police officers and an ambulance crew descended on the pub on the evening of May 7.

Mr O’Brien was taken to hospital by paramedics with stab wounds.

In the days after the incident, Mr O’Brien’s dad Joseph, who lives in Perth, told the Tele that the outcome could have been much worse.

He said he had received a call at around 10.30pm on the day in question to tell him that his son had been stabbed.

He said: “I was in my bed when I got a phone call from one of my kids saying Sean has been stabbed.

“I went up to A&E to make sure my son was all right and there were a few police and CID officers there to see if my son was OK.

“When I got in to speak to my son I asked him what happened and he just said that a fight had broken out in the pub.

“They were just checking him for internal bleeding but they let him go.”

He added that his son was “a bit shaken” following the incident.

Locals told of seeing police remaining at the pub for several hours after the attack and a manhunt was launched to try to find the person responsible.

A police van was stationed outside the pub the following morning while police carried out their investigations.

The pub was closed following the stabbing but reopened the following day.