Man avoids prison for ‘horrible’ assault captured on CCTV

A man who committed an assault that was captured on CCTV avoided being sent to prison when appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court today.

Wayne Uren, 32, of Cairnfield Road, Lerwick, assaulted a man by pulling him to the ground and repeatedly kicking, stamping and punching him on the head to his injury in Commercial Street on 13th August last year.

The court heard that Uren and his partner had been queuing in a takeaway when the complainer, who was drunk, acted in a belligerent manner to the proprietor. The complainer was refused service and Uren then asked to be served. This prompted the complainer to headbut Uren, who fell out through the door. Uren then chose to involve himself and attacked the complainer.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said it was a “prolonged, sustained assault” that lasted 10 minutes on CCTV, but the “clear instigator” was the complainer, who was on crutches.
Beside Uren in the dock was his partner Amy Marie Groat, 25, of the same address. Mr MacKenzie said she had the opportunity to drag Uren away but she did not do this, instead getting a couple of kicks in as well.

Defence solicitor Tommy Allan said he “would not be doing his job” if he did not stress the amount of provocation Uren had been under. In an impassioned plea to keep Uren out of prison, Mr Allan told the sheriff that Uren fully appreciated the impact of what he had done. He had been in tears and “distraught” watching the CCTV footage, knowing he should not have acted as he did. Mr Allan said: “I cannot stress highly enough his regret and remorse.”

He added that Uren was anxious not to lose his job, for which he had worked hard and got qualified, and now had prospects. There had been no severe injury to the complainer.

Defence agent Gregor Kelly said Groat, who has a young child and acts as carer for her mother, kicked the complainer three times on the backside. The kicks were not forceful but still “grossly unedifying”. Groat was now very embarrassed, he said.

Sheriff Philip Mann said the CCTV footage was “a horrible thing to watch”. He said it was a sustained and vicious attack, and stamping on the head is something taken extremely seriously as the consequences can be severe.

He told Uren he was lucky there was no significant injury and that he was not being prosecuted in a higher court, and that custody could have been “well justified”. He accepted there had been provocation and imposed a fine of £900 and a community payback order of 70 hours.

Groat was fined £250.