News / Fisherman bit crewman and would not let go
A FISHERMAN from Plymouth was sent to jail for eight months after pleading guilty to assaulting a fellow crewman by biting him in the cheek like “an animal that holds on to its prey”.
Mark Davison, a prisoner in Aberdeen, was described as a “violent and dangerous individual” when he appeared from custody at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
It took crew members at least 30 seconds to get 44 year old Davison off his victim. They eventually managed to restrain him before calling the police.
The assault happened on the UK-registered scallop fishing boat King Explorer while it was working 30 miles south of Scalloway on 22 July.
The resulting wound had to be cleaned and the victim had to take antibiotics and anti-viral drugs against a potential Hepatitis B and HIV infection.
The court heard how Davison, a new crew member on the scalloper, got embroiled in an argument with a younger Polish crew member whose job it was to train him.
Describing the assault graphically, procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said Davison first punched the man and then “attached himself to the man’s cheek and would not let go”.
Defence solicitor Tommy Allan said Davison, a father of three, felt isolated on the fishing vessel when he realised that he was the only British man among a Polish crew.
Things did not get off to a good start and there was animosity against his client, he said.
Allan added that Davison felt sorry for carrying out the assault and said it shouldn’t have happened. Imposing a custodial sentence, Sheriff Philip Mann described the assault as “appalling”.
He backdated the jail term to 9 October, the date Davison was taken into custody.
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