Man who burned friend in ‘drunken prank’ ordered to pay £1,000 compensation

A Lerwick man who burnt his sleeping friend in a drunken prank has been ordered to pay him £1,000 compensation.

David Sandison, 26, was also fined £450 after admitting to “culpable and reckless conduct” when he appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court today (Thursday).

The court heard Sandison, of North Lochside, had been at a house party in Scalloway after a social event on 24th July last year when the incident happened.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said “alcohol and been consumed” and the complainer, Aiden Couper, had fallen asleep on a sofa.

Mr MacKenzie said Sandison “for some reason decided to apply a naked flame to the spray of an aerosol can and burned the complainer on the left forearm as he was sleeping”.

The fiscal said Mr Couper woke up in pain before falling back to sleep.

Another partygoer recorded what happened and circulated the video on social media.

When the complainer woke up the following morning, the court heard he was still in “considerable pain” and attended hospital for treatment.

His injuries were described as a “deep burn” that would leave a scar and discolouration after healing.

Mr MacKenzie said the accused contacted his friend to apologise for what he had done but by that point the police had been involved.

Sandison attended the police station by appointment a couple of days later and was charged with the offence.

The court heard he told officers he never intended any harm to Mr Couper and felt ashamed of his actions.

Defence agent Martin Morrow described the incident as a “prank that went wrong”.

Mr Morrow said everyone at the party underestimated the strength of the flame and how far it would travel.

While the solicitor said his client had always admitted to discharging the flame, he said he had struggled to reconcile the severity of the injury he was said to have caused.

Mr Morrow said the complainer had fallen asleep after the incident and showed “no overt signs of distress”.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said he accepted Sandison had not intended to harm his friend, which is why he had denied assault but admitted culpable and reckless conduct.

He said Sandison had been “very reckless” and felt sure the burn would have caused “quite an amount of discomfort and pain”.

The sheriff ordered the £450 fine and £1,000 compensation be paid in instalments of £150 a month.