Drunk schoolboy admits punching man in the street

Published on 22/09/2012 12:00

A TEENAGE thug identified himself to police minutes before scarring a man for life in an unprovoked attack.

Despite being only 17, schoolboy James McGrane admitted he was extremely drunk when he assaulted 
Ruaridh Paterson in Whitburn, West Lothian.

At Livingston Sheriff Court, McGrane, from Whitburn, admitted punching Mr Paterson on the head, causing him to fall to the ground to his injury and permanent disfigurement.

Mr Paterson suffered two cuts above his right eye which needed seven stitches and will leave permanent scars.

Sentencing McGrane to 120 hours of unpaid work under a 12-month community payback order, Sheriff Pamela Bowman told him if he had been found guilty after trial he would have gone to jail.

She said: “If every young man of 17 just went up to someone when they were drunk and punched them, where would we be? It’s a shocking think to do.”