A Dundee man who brutally assaulted a barmaid and left her with a shattered arm after she tried to rouse him from a drunken stupor has been jailed for 22 months.
James Craig grabbed his victim by the hair, pulled her to the floor and then punched her on the head.
He then savagely stamped on her arm, leaving her writhing in pain from a fractured and dislocated elbow.
Craig, 35, had been drinking solidly for nine hours by the time he was discovered by the unfortunate barmaid, Kirstyn Bruce, at a table in what was then Union 39 in the city’s Union Street.
When she tried to wake him, at around 1.15am, he became immediately aggressive, held up his middle finger and made “a profoundly offensive comment”.
Asked to leave, he instead launched an unprovoked and vicious attack upon Ms Bruce, which left her severely injured.
Craig, of Brown Street, subsequently admitted assaulting Ms Bruce on November 27 last year.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, Craig pleaded to be allowed to keep his liberty to enable him to continue caring for his son.
He extended his “sincere apologies” to his victim and claimed his actions had been “out of character” – a previous conviction for assault aside.
The accused told the court he had been heavily under the influence of alcohol and had “no recollection of the actual assault”, though he accepted he had committed the offence as described.
He handed letters of reference to the court from family, friends and employers in which he was described as “kind” and “gentle” and they expressed surprise that the person they knew had committed such an offence.
Sheriff Alastair Brown, however, was unmoved and said justice required a stern penalty.
He said: “While you may not recall the assault, I am sure the lady involved has a very clear recollection of what occurred.
“Many people are capable of doing things while drunk that they would not contemplate while sober.
“It is scientifically very well established that the effect of alcohol is to seriously impair a person’s judgement by reducing their inhibitions, including the inhibitions against violence.
“I can see that the details of what you did distress you but this is the kind of thing that happens when you have too much to drink.”
Sheriff Brown said he had been asked to consider a non-custodial sentence but considered that inappropriate.
He said his sentence was “no knee-jerk reaction” to the seriousness of the attack, but added: “It is important when sentencing that the public in general and victims of crime in particular are given some sense that justice has been done.
“For an offence of this nature in a public house – indeed anywhere – I do not think that anyone would feel justice had been done if I did not impose a prison sentence.
“I would not feel justice had been done.
“Only a period of custody is appropriate.
“The harm you did was very severe.
“Your victim suffered a fracture and dislocation to her elbow.
“You stamped on her and that makes you very culpable.”
In addition to jailing Craig, the sheriff barred him from any licensed premises operating from the address occupied by Union 39 for five years.
