A coward left a stranger with a life-threatening brain injury after a vicious, unprovoked attack following Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Dundee.
Conor Mockler suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on his brain after being knocked unconscious by a remorseless Keiran Rae on High Street, Lochee on May 28 2023.
Rae, 25, then repeatedly punched Mr Mockler’s flatmate – Fergus Higgins – who tried to protect their two female friends from the thug.
Chilling CCTV captured the moment an animated and “shadow boxing” Rae walked over to the group before punching Mr Mockler, who fell flat on his back and struck his head off the road.
Just minutes earlier, Rae had broken a woman’s jaw on Coupar Angus Road after she came to his partner’s aid while she cried for help.
Keris Bennie required surgery and metal plates had to be fitted into her mouth.
Rae is now in custody after a jury unanimously convicted him of the assaults which occurred in the aftermath of Lewis Capaldi closing the music festival at Camperdown Park.
Sheriff Paul Brown said: “You stand convicted of a series of assaults that demonstrated a depraved disposition of utter cowardice and brutality.”
Jurors at Dundee Sheriff Court heard how the group of four students – who had all attended the festival – encountered Rae on High Street while walking home from the event.
A brief, jovial interaction between a shoeless Mr Higgins and Rae at around 11.40pm would end in catastrophic fashion.
Rae shouted “beasts” at the group as they continued walking before challenging them to a fight.
After Mr Mockler told Rae to leave them alone, he was knocked out while standing with his arms by his side.
“It’s changed the course of my life,” Mr Mockler, 25, said in evidence.
“I went back to university as a disabled student.
“The hard work I put in to get into education after leaving school really early; in that moment it flashed before my eyes.”
Mr Mockler suffered a 3cm cut to the back of his head, a fractured skull and a subdural hematoma, where blood collects between the skull and the surface of the brain.
After being rushed to Ninewells Hospital, the barista, originally from Dublin, only remembered waking up in the high dependency unit and viewed the CCTV for the first time in court.
He has since experienced exacerbated mental health issues, short-term memory loss, problems with fine motor skills like handwriting and required special measures to complete his psychology degree.
Mr Higgins described how he jumped on Rae after the feral attack on his friend.
The 24-year-old assistant ecologist told jurors: “As soon as he punched Conor, I tried to pin the guy’s arms down by his side.
“Just restrain him so he doesn’t try to hurt anyone else.
“I tried to take his jumper over his head so he can’t see.
“I didn’t really think about it, I just grabbed him. It’s your natural reaction.”
Rae repeatedly punched Mr Higgins and left him with a black eye, an attack he claimed was in self-defence because he was put in a “neck lock”.
Mental health nurse Rachel Wansell, 23, said the group had wished Rae and his partner a good night after passing them on the High Street.
Rae then began “shadow boxing” towards Mr Mockler after calling them “beasts” while walking towards them.
Ms Wansell said: “Fergus started making monkey noises and that started to provoke him (Rae).
“We heard shouting and he was coming towards us saying ‘you f*****g beasts, you wanting a fight?’”
She said Mr Mockler was unconscious for around “five to six minutes” before paramedics and police arrived.
Registered nurse Amelia Kevany, 25, became tearful upon viewing the footage.
“I remember I put my jacket on Conor because he was really cold to touch,” she told jurors.
“In my head I was like ‘this can’t happen to someone else’”.
Less than an hour previously, Keris Bennie intervened in a dispute between Rae and his crying partner who was “screaming for help” after being grabbed on Coupar Angus Road.
She said: “I was concerned for her welfare. I stood in front of her, he (Rae) is behind me.
“He said ‘we don’t need any f*****g help’ very aggressively in my face.
“I put my arm up to keep him at a distance. My arm was touching his chest.
“He was just saying the same thing over and over again.”
She described how her tooth was hanging out and had to undergo surgery to have plates and screws fitted into her jaw.
It later became infected and suffered permanent nerve damage as well as numbness from her bottom lip to her right ear.
Ms Bennie said her face now sits at a different angle.
Rae, of Glengate, Kirriemuir, was convicted of assaulting his ex-partner by seizing her body before punching Ms Bennie on the head to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment.
Jurors found him guilty of behaving abusively on Coupar Angus Road and High Street, Lochee before knocking Mr Mockler unconscious to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement, permanent impairment and the danger of his life.
Rae was additionally convicted of assaulting Mr Higgins to his injury and abusive behaviour.
The thug shook his head as the jury’s verdict was delivered.
He had previously offered to plead guilty to amended charges but this was not accepted by prosecutors.
Rae’s mother was banned from the court building because of disruptive behaviour during the trial while his friends Aaron Robertson, 23, and Stewart Collie, 25, were threatened with contempt of court action.
Sentence was deferred on Rae, who has previous convictions for domestic offending, until next month for a social work report to be prepared.
Sheriff Brown added: “You met out violence to people who offered you no resistance.
“There is no alternative to a substantial custodial sentence.
“I want to assess the risk you pose to members of the public.”
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