07/05/2010
Teenager Jailed For OAP Attack
A teenager who stopped to tie his shoe before resuming kicking a pensioner has been jailed for six years.
Sean Collins, 18, was captured on CCTV raining kicks, stamps and punches down on 78-year-old Maxwell Brownlee.
After viewing the film, Lord Brailsford told Collins: "This was plainly an assault carried out on an innocent person with considerable ferocity and savagery."
The High Court in Edinburgh had earlier heard how Collins, who was aged 17 when he carried out the attack in Dundee's Whitfield shopping centre, claimed it had been sparked when he misunderstood something Mr Brownlee shouted.
He later wrote a letter to Mr Brownlee which stated: "I am sorry for what I done that night. I badly assaulted you. I was really drunk. I really wish I could change things back but that is not going to happen."
Collins, of Myrtlehall Gardens, Dundee, admitted attempting to murder Mr Brownlee, 68, on 7 April last year.
The High Court in Edinburgh was told that Mr Brownlee, an alcoholic, had previously suffered a stroke and was "quite frail and infirm". He was well known in the local community and was often seen walking around the Whitfield area. Collins approached him just before midnight and they began talking.
Without warning, he punched Mr Brownlee causing him to stagger and fall to the ground.
Police were called to the otherwise deserted shopping centre by a CCTV operator, and Mr Brownlee was taken to Ninewells Hospital, where staff said he had been confused and unable to remember anything about the attack.
He had suffered only minor cuts and bruises and doctors thought that being drunk may have helped him avoid more serious damage from the blows, the court was told.
(LB/GK)
Sean Collins, 18, was captured on CCTV raining kicks, stamps and punches down on 78-year-old Maxwell Brownlee.
After viewing the film, Lord Brailsford told Collins: "This was plainly an assault carried out on an innocent person with considerable ferocity and savagery."
The High Court in Edinburgh had earlier heard how Collins, who was aged 17 when he carried out the attack in Dundee's Whitfield shopping centre, claimed it had been sparked when he misunderstood something Mr Brownlee shouted.
He later wrote a letter to Mr Brownlee which stated: "I am sorry for what I done that night. I badly assaulted you. I was really drunk. I really wish I could change things back but that is not going to happen."
Collins, of Myrtlehall Gardens, Dundee, admitted attempting to murder Mr Brownlee, 68, on 7 April last year.
The High Court in Edinburgh was told that Mr Brownlee, an alcoholic, had previously suffered a stroke and was "quite frail and infirm". He was well known in the local community and was often seen walking around the Whitfield area. Collins approached him just before midnight and they began talking.
Without warning, he punched Mr Brownlee causing him to stagger and fall to the ground.
Police were called to the otherwise deserted shopping centre by a CCTV operator, and Mr Brownlee was taken to Ninewells Hospital, where staff said he had been confused and unable to remember anything about the attack.
He had suffered only minor cuts and bruises and doctors thought that being drunk may have helped him avoid more serious damage from the blows, the court was told.
(LB/GK)
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