A Perthshire war veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder could have killed his friend after stabbing him in the neck with scissors, a court has heard.
Iraq veteran Alistair Sinclair, 33, narrowly missed vital blood vessels when he stabbed Graham Paterson during a fight in Crieff on May 29 last year.
But Sinclair has been spared jail for the offence at Glasgow High Court after being given the chance to turn his life around by judge Lady Rae.
Sinclair previously pled guilty to assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement and danger of life at Livingston High Court and appeared for sentencing today.
Sinclair, a prisoner at Perth, was discharged from the army on medical grounds 10 years ago after four years of active service in war zones, his defence advocate Ronnie Renucci said.
Sinclair had suffered from PTSD after serving in Iraq and had experienced problems with drugs and drug addiction.
However, Lady Rae heard that representatives from The Bridge for Heroes armed forces charity were willing to work with Sinclair to address the complex issues he has faced.
“It’s his chance, not so much his last chance but an opportunity, to do something,” Mr Renucci noted.
“He accepts he has probably not helped himself in the past and he felt alone and did not know what to do.
“He now realises that he is not alone and there are people out there who understand what he has gone through and what he continues to go through.
“It is of some comfort to him that there are people who have managed to improve their lives and live as normal a life as possible.”
Livingston High Court had previously heard how Sinclair had been in a drunken fight with Mr Paterson, who threw a bottle at him.
Both men went back inside flats in Commissioner Street, Crieff – Sinclair to his mother’s and Mr Paterson to his ex-girlfriend’s.
They clashed again a short time later after Sinclair started shouting angrily at his friend from the street.
When Mr Paterson came out to face him, Sinclair pulled a pair of scissors from the back of his trousers and stabbed him twice.
The first blow left a deep cut on the side of Mr Paterson’s neck, which narrowly missed his carotid artery and jugular vein – the two main blood vessels connecting his brain and his heart.
The court was previously told that if either one of the vessels had been severed, the resulting blood loss would have been “life threatening”.
The second blow, to Mr Paterson’s abdomen, missed his spleen by just a few millimetres.
In sentencing, Lady Rae said she had to balance the risk to the public with addressing Sinclair’s wider issues and future.
To that end she sentenced Sinclair to a three-year community payback order with supervision which will be reviewed in three months.
“This is an unusual disposal in this sort of case,” she acknowledged.
“But you need to get yourself and your life in order. That will protect the public better if you live a crime free life.”
And she warned: “Don’t disappoint me.”
