Langlees attack saw teenager (17) stab man in neck to 'protect' his sister

Appearing at Falkirk Sheriff Court on Thursday, the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had admitted the assault – which stated he struck the victim in the neck to his injury – he committed at an address in Lomond Drive, Langlees on June 1 last year.

The trouble started when the accused and his sister, who is just a couple of years his senior, attended a party with much older people.

Heather Galbraith, procurator fiscal depute, said: “It was 1am and the witnesses were under the influence of alcohol and began to argue with one another. The accused’s sister wanted to go home.

"The witness has then asked the accused if he knew a particular person and out of nowhere the accused has then swung his right arm towards the witness striking him on the neck.

"The witness began shouting, asking what’s going on and realised he was bleeding from his neck. On looking at the accused he saw he had a knife.”

The witness received one stitch to the one inch cut on his neck.

When the accused was traced by police he told them he had dumped the knife in some bushes.

Defence solicitor Stephen Biggam said: “The older people involved have a lot of previous convictions. My client was a young man clearly out of his depth – basically he and his sister were being threatened, intimidated and bullied by these people.

“His sister wanted to engage in the company of these people and as the night went on he became more concerned about what might happen. He was fearful for himself and fearful for her.

"He thought she was going to be raped. He was left in no doubt about who these people were and what they were capable of doing.”

Sheriff Derek Livingston placed the accused on a supervised community payback order for two years with the condition he complete 180 hours unpaid work within 12 months. He was also made subject to a restriction of liberty order which means he will have to remain in his home between 7pm and 7am for the next nine months.