A MOUNTBLOW man has been told to prepare himself for jail after he attacked another man with a pair of scissors.

Barry Hamilton, 42, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault following an incident in Clydebank in May last year.

Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard last week that the accused and his victim had known each other for 20 years and became involved in a scuffle on the afternoon of May 20 after Hamilton spotted the man while out walking.

The fiscal depute said: “At 2pm the witness was cycling along the footpath between Clydebank Business Park and Singer Road. The accused was on foot and shouted the witness’s name as he passed.

“The witness stopped and they started speaking. The accused called the witness a ‘p***k’ and the witness stepped back stating: ‘What did you say there?’

“The assault started with the accused punching the witness on the head causing him to come off his bike and end up on the ground against a fence.”

Hamilton then continued the assault by punching his victim on the body.

The fiscal depute added: “The witness said the feeling changed as if it was not just punches anymore. He saw something grey in the accused’s hands.

“They struggled on the ground and at one point the witness was underneath the accused attempting to control him by locking his arms around his neck and holding his right arm with the object.”

Hamilton, who lives in a flat in Montreal House, was said to have been using part of a pair of scissors. He was bitten on the ear by his victim before members of the public were alerted to the attack.

Police attended and recovered the scissors as both men were taken to hospital. The victim was treated for a wound on his left forearm and a laceration to his forehead which will leave scarring.

His defence solicitor, Brian McGuire, told the court: “There’s quite a background to this; a 50-page interview with considerable background explained by Mr Hamilton.

“Mr Hamilton said he was walking along minding his own business when the witness came up behind him before going away and then coming back again.

“He explained that this was self-defence – it is not self-defence and Mr Hamilton accepts this.

“He said that he was ‘feart’. That was his position in terms of what was being said to him and information that he knows about the complainer.

“I cannot force myself from the view that Mr Hamilton has in his possession a very dangerous implement, the use of which – a chopped pair of scissors – could have been horrible.”

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Describing Hamilton’s previous criminal record as “awful”, Sheriff William Gallacher said: “I find it hard to visualise how I can part with you without a custodial sentence.

“It is only with the greatest hesitation that I allow you to maintain your liberty and you should prepare yourself to lose that.”

Sentence was deferred until March 18 and Hamilton’s bail was continued.