Court / Trio sent to prison after assault which left victim ‘scarred for life’
TWO people tried to flee a crime scene by using a fake name at an airport and hiding in a car boot at a ferry terminal, a court has heard.
Rhys Chan, 33, and Tyler Kidd, 30, tried to get off Shetland in a hurry after subjecting a man to an assault in Lerwick on 22 November 2023.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how the pair and their accomplice Kyle Swannie, 28, were responsible for an attack in which an axe and a knife were used.
The attack left the victim scarred for life.
The trio were jailed on Wednesday after Judge Lord Young told them they had had to go to prison for their crimes.
Chan and Kidd, both of Leicester, had tried to avoid detection after the 2023 assault.
The court heard Chan turned up at Sumburgh Airport the day after committing the attack and tried to travel using the name ‘Daniel Robinson’.
Meanwhile, Kidd travelled to Lerwick via the ferry on 29 November in the boot of a vehicle.
Police officers foiled the escape attempts and brought the pair to justice.
On Wednesday, the two Englishmen appeared alongside Swannie, of Shetland, for sentencing.
The three men pleaded guilty to assaulting the man to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Chan and Kidd also each admitted to a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice by trying to get off Shetland.
Kidd also pleaded guilty to assaulting the same man on an earlier occasion at the Trench Bar in Lerwick on 17 September 2023.
Lord Young handed Chan and Kidd four year prison sentences for their crimes. Swannie was given three years for his actions.
Passing sentence, the judge told the three men that they had to go to prison for their crimes.
He told Chan: “Your attack left lasting psychological injuries and scars on your victims.”
The trio originally pleaded guilty to their crimes at a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow in January 2025.
The hearing had been continued until Wednesday for crown lawyers to tell the court of the circumstances surrounding the attacks.
Prosecutor Scott McKenzie told the court that Kidd first assaulted the man at about 1am outside the Trench bar in Lerwick.
This happened after the man and Kidd had spent the evening drinking there and became involved in an argument with each other.
McKenzie said as a result of the assault the man was left with a “sore face, a scratch to the back of his head and a bleeding mouth”.
On 22 November 2023 the victim received a phone call from a “friend” at around midnight.
His friend asked him to come and meet him for a “chat” in his car at a carpark in Lerwick.
McKenzie said that when the man went to see his acquaintance, he got into the back seat of his car only to find a masked man was sitting beside him.
McKenzie added: “At the same time another man got into the front passenger seat of the car.
“Both these males were dressed in black and had their faces covered by wearing balaclavas.”
McKenzie said these males were Chan and Kidd.
He added that as Kidd got in, the victim could see that he was holding what was described as a “miniature axe”.
This was used to strike the man on the head.
“He then instructed Chan to ‘chef him up’ whereupon Chan produced and started brandishing a large knife – this was a black handled kitchen knife,” McKenzie said.
Thinking he was going to be stabbed, the man grabbed the knife by the blade, cutting his finger in the process.
“At that point Tyler Kidd struck him again with the axe hitting him on the cheek,” McKenzie said.
The man then managed to get out of the car and began to flee.
“As he was getting out of the car however, Chan stabbed him twice piercing each buttock,” McKenzie said.
The court heard that Swannie was waiting outside and started chasing the man as he tried to escape the scene.
He grabbed hold of his t-shirt and scratched the right side of his chest and neck.
The court heard that the victim received medical treatment following the attack and medics were able to treat his injuries.
Meanwhile, on 23 November, security staff at Sumburgh Airport had their attention drawn to a man who was behaving oddly in the departure lounge.
The court heard that this man was Chan and had checked in as Daniel Robinson and was making attempts to avoid recognition.
McKenzie added: “His attempts to avoid being recognised had the opposite effect. Police had circulated photographs to the airport of people they were keen to speak to.
“Due to his odd behaviour, he was checked against those photographs and recognised as being one of the men. He was also recognised as Rhys Chan by a member of airport staff.
“The police were called. Chan was led back land side by a staff member. When he got back to the other side of security, the police were waiting for him.”
McKenzie said that Kidd was arrested on 29 November after police received intelligence he was trying to get off Shetland by hiding in a car boot.
Defence counsels for the accused men told the court that their clients accepted responsibility for their actions and accepted prison was inevitable.
By James Mulholland
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