A son broke his mother’s eye socket with a single punch after she told him he should stop using legal highs.
Rachel Nicol, 45, was so concerned about her son’s use of controversial New Psychoactive Substances that she confronted him about it when he visited his brother’s home.
But Christopher Gettler flew into a rage and smashed a fist into his mother’s face and knocked her over.
“Rachel Nicol had been shopping and went to the accused’s brother’s home. She sat on the sofa and started speaking to the accused about his addiction to legal highs.
“The accused started arguing with her and became aggressive,” fiscal depute Gavin Letford said. “He punched her once in the face causing her to fall against the sofa.
“His brother came home and found Rachel Nicol with a badly bruised face. She did not report it to police as she did not want to get her son into trouble.”
She was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee where she was found to have a broken orbital socket and blood in her left eye. She needed reconstructive surgery and has since complained of double vision.
The matter was reported to police by concerned social workers and, despite Mrs Nicol declining to point the finger at her son, they managed to gather evidence against him.
Gettler, 26, from Perth, admitted assaulting his mother to her severe injury at Walker Court in Perth on 28 September.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: “He clearly has issues with regard to violence. It is one punch which did a lot of damage.”
He told Gettler: “You will appreciate a custodial sentence is almost inevitable and I want to give serious consideration to a supervised release order.”
He noted Gettler, who was remanded in custody, had previous convictions for violence and he deferred sentence until next month for the preparation of reports.