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Scotland: Bottle attack Kurdish man is
jailed
18.2.2006
By JANE CANDLISH
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An
Inverness father of three was just a centimetre from
bleeding to death after being attacked with a broken
bottle a court heard yesterday.
Andrew Mitchell was left with permanent scars
following the assault in Madras Street, Inverness,
on New Year's Day, but was said to have been lucky
not to die.
His attacker, Kurdish fish factory worker, Azu Ali,
was yesterday jailed for three years by Sheriff
Alexander Pollock at Inverness Sheriff Court.
The court heard that the attack took place as Mr
Mitchell, a coalman, was walking alone after
drinking with his brother-in-law on January 1 this
year - also Ali's 24th birthday.
Depute fiscal Ron Phillips said that on entering the
alleyway, Mr Mitchell saw a group of about 16
people.
As he passed through the alleyway, a 15-year-old
youth made a remark towards him about his teenage
sons. Mr Mitchell responded with a comment of his
own and the two traded punches.
The rest of the group formed a semi circle around
the pair and Mr Phillips said that Ali approached Mr
Mitchell from behind and struck a heavy blow with a
bottle.
He said: "That single blow with an unbroken bottle
was sufficient to cause a laceration with swelling.
The force of the blow caused the bottle to smash and
he was left holding the neck of the bottle which now
had a ragged edge."
Ali continued to hit Mr Mitchell, stabbing the
bottle towards his head and neck five or six times.
Eventually Mr Mitchell was able to get away and
phoned the police from a call box in Greig Street.
When police arrived, they followed a trail of blood
from the box to a house in Madras Street, where they
detained the 15-year-old and two others.
The three were later released after being
interviewed and Ali was arrested in the early hours
of the morning.
Mr Phillips said that one wound stopped less than a
centimetre short of Mitchell's carotid artery, one
of the main arteries in the neck.
"Had that been compromised, he would have bled to
death in the street in the absence of urgent medical
attention," he said.
Mr Phillips continued that the victim also suffered
a 1.5cm cut to the back of his head and defensive
injuries to his hands.
Mr Phillips said that Mr Mitchell continued to
experience pain and discomfort because of his
injuries.
Ali, whose address was given in court as 45 Grant
Street, pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Mitchell to
his severe injury and permanent disfigurement, and
to the danger of his life.
The court heard that Ali had previously served an
18-month sentence in Glasgow after a similar assault
in 2002.
www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk
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