Shieldhill slugger knocked out peacemaker’s front tooth

An argument outside a community centre turned nasty when an offender punched a stranger in the mouth after the man had just tried to calm him down.

Gordon Davidson (31) had already struck another man and pushed a woman down onto the road when the peacemaker tried to intervene and got a tooth knocked out and another badly damaged for his trouble.

Appearing at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday, Davidson pled guilty to three assaults and behaving in a threatening manner in Main Street, Sheildhill on January 21 last year.

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Procurator fiscal depute Samantha Brown said: “The incident happened outside the main entrance of a community centre in Shieldhill. The witnesses had been attending a leaving party within the community centre.

“Just after midnight the party was coming to an end and the relevant witnesses were waiting outside the premises. A couple became aware of the accused, who was also standing outside.

“An unknown female had walked past the accused and accidently bumped into him, which resulted in an exchange of words between the accused and the unknown female. A male witness observed the accused and considered he was acting quite aggressively.

“He approached the accused, trying to calm situation down and prevent any further issues. At that point the accused started acting aggressively towards the male witness, stating ‘What are you going to do?’.

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“The man’s partner then became involved to try and prevent anything happening between her partner and the accused. The accused then started to swear at the woman in the mistaken belief she had been the female who had bumped into him, telling her to shut up and calling her a bitch.

“The woman saw the accused tensing up to move forward towards her. She panicked and poured the remains of a drink at the accused, which landed on his leg. The accused has then turned and punched the woman’s partner twice to the head.

“He then pushed the woman by her shoulders and she fell on the roadway. Another man came out of the party to have a cigarette and saw what was going on outside. He was aware the accused was not happy about having a drink thrown at him.

“He was unknown to both the accused and the couple and tried to act as peacemaker, trying to calm the accused down. The accused punched him in the mouth, knocking out one of his front teeth and leaving another one damaged.”

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The court heard the injured man later attended Forth Valley Royal Hospital to receive treatment and was told there was a good chance he may lose his other tooth.

While at the hospital, the victim actually spotted the Davidson, who was receiving treatment for a hand injury.

He found out Davidson’s name and contact police, who traced Davidson a couple of days later.

First offender Davidson, who was representing himself, said: “The drink was actually thrown into my face not my leg. I lost my job because of this – I couldn’t work because of the injury to my hand.

“I’m back working now. I’m sorry for what I have done.”

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Sheriff Derek Livingston said: “This seems to be behaviour that is entirely out of character for you, but you caused a fair bit of damage to the victim.”

He admonished Davidson, 3 Princes Street, California, for the threatening behaviour and two of the assaults, but on the assault which damaged the man’s teeth he ordered him to pay £1500 compensation to the victim at a rate of £50 per week.