A thug who slashed a 17-year-old girl in a row over a smashed window has been jailed for 18 months.
Paul Gillies, 45, was left furious after a neighbour's property was damaged during a disturbance with a group of girls in Cleland, Lanarkshire.
He confronted the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, on stairs outside a flat.
Gillies then struck her with the blade leaving her with two six-inch scars on her neck.
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Police who had been called to the street spotted Gillies with a knife in his hand before he dropped it.
Gillies, of Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted assault to injury and permanent disfigurement in July last year.
He also pled guilty to illegal possession of a knife.
The first offender was caged by Sheriff Liam Murphy and told he would have been jailed for two years had he not pled guilty.
The court was told the girl was taken to Wishaw General hospital after being attacked but signed herself out before receiving treatment.
A pregnant woman was also rushed to hospital during the street row.
Depute fiscal Neil Thomson said: "Gillies was seen to walk along the street with a large knife in his hand.
"He approached a girl aged 17. What her connection was to the disturbance is not clear but there was an incident involving her and Gillies on the stairs leading to a flat.
"This resulted in him striking the girl on the neck with the knife.
"Police officers saw Gillies walking towards his house with the knife in his hand and he then dropped it."
The prosecutor added: "The girl decided not to stay at the hospital to have the wounds examined properly and treated.
"The only medical evidence is from the triage nurse who said she would have scarring."
Stephen McQuillan, defending, said: "He reacted to a situation he found himself in but I don't think that makes him a dangerous person.
"There is a direct alternative available to the court.
"In all the circumstances, I'm asking him to be allowed to pay back to the community and to pay compensation to the victim in this case."
Sheriff Murphy said: "You took a knife out of your home and went to the complainer before assaulting her with it which resulted in her permanent disfigurement.
"There is no alternative to a custodial sentence in my view."
