A terrified barmaid had to bite an attacker who followed her home in the early hours of the morning after he shoved her to the ground and stuffed his fingers in her mouth.
Craig Walls was caught when pictures taken by a nightclub photographer were shown to his victim helping her identify him.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told his victim no longer feels safe socialising in Dundee for fear of seeing her attacker.
Walls launched the assault as she walked home in darkness from a shift behind the bar at the Underground nightclub in Dundee.
He trailed her from the city’s Hawkhill to Milnbank Road, almost a mile away, where she confronted him, prompting the 22-year-old to strike.
Walls grabbed the woman and shoved her into shutters outside a shop, causing her to fall to the ground.
When she tried to scream he stuffed three or four fingers into her mouth in a bid to silence her.
Depute fiscal Eilidh Robertson told the sheriff court that the woman kicked Walls before biting his fingers, forcing him to break-off his attack.
“After the attack, two residents who had heard her screams came to her assistance,” she said. “They described her as being in pain and very much shaken, clearly distressed and panicked.
“She suspected the person responsible may have been at the Underground nightclub on the night and was able to identify the accused from photos taken by the official club photographer.”
She said the victim had been “significantly affected” by the incident and had left her job at the nightclub and had also altered her shift patterns so she will never have to walk home alone in the dark.
Walls, 22, of Milton Brae, Glenrothes, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of assault to injury committed on September 2 last year. Sheriff Alistair Carmichael imposed a community payback order with 18 months supervision and an alcohol treatment programme and ordered Walls to pay £2,000 in compensation to his victim.