News / Possessed machete and assaulted man in town
A MAN from Lerwick who possessed a machete and committed assault has been placed under supervision for one year and given unpaid work to complete.
Jack Deacon, of South Road, previously admitted possessing the item without reasonable excuse on Lerwick’s Ladies Drive, North Road and elsewhere on 26 March.
The 20 year old also pled guilty to assaulting a man on the same day on Ladies Drive and repeatedly punching and kicking him on the head and body to his injury.
At Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday, procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said Deacon committed an “unprovoked” assault on someone who used to be a friend.
The victim suffered a number of injuries, including swelling around the left eye and ear, grazes, bruises and a slightly swollen and dislodged nose.
Later on Deacon was in a group of associates who left a house before tensions arose with another group.
The 20 year old had a machete within his waistband, but one of his friends decided to remove it and throw it away.
The item was later found by police when they attended the scene.
Deacon had said he was in the middle of taking the knife to his girlfriend’s so she could use it for protection – something which Mackenzie did not not accept.
Defence agent Gregor Kelly said his client “accepts the seriousness” of the incident but maintained that the knife was fully sheathed.
The solicitor admitted, however, that offences with knives often lead to young men ending up on “slabs in mortuaries”.
Kelly suggested that his client has struggled to cope with the death of his mother, which happened in his youth, with the offence taking place on Mother’s Day.
The defence agent said it had appeared Deacon “moved to Shetland to find some solace, but what he’s done is the opposite by bringing high-level violence to the community”.
Sheriff Philip Mann said his instincts suggested he should send the 20 year old to jail.
“It’s inexplicable why you should act in this manner,” he said.
But taking into account Deacon’s career prospects and the fact that he could only send him to jail if it was the only viable option, the sheriff decided against custody.
Instead, he placed him on a community payback order including supervision and 160 hours of unpaid work, while he was also told to pay £500 in compensation to his victim.
Sheriff Mann granted Mackenzie’s request to forfeit the machete.
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