A Stirling thug who battered and robbed a man walking home after a night out has been jailed.
Twenty-six-year-old Christopher McGowan maintained an attack his 41-year-old victim for a full 10 minutes while the older man curled into a ball.
Stirling Sheriff Court heard the man was walking home alone about half past midnight having visited pubs in Stirling city centre, when he was waylaid on the pavement in McLaren Terrace, Stirling, near its junction with Broomridge Road, by McGowan and two accomplices.
Prosecutor Kristina Kelly said: “They were standing directly in front of him. The man moved to his left to move onto the road. They also moved onto the road.
“They set upon him, surrounding him to the front side and rear.”
He was punched to the head by McGowan and fell to the ground, curling into a ball and trying to cover his face.
For 10 minutes, punches were rained on him.
Ms Kelly said he estimated he had been hit about 10 times to the head before the attackers left and he walked home bleeding.
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When he got home, he found his wallet containing his driving licence, cards, and £25 cash were missing.
The victim was left with cuts and bruises and needed four stitches.
The wallet was handed in to police later by an anonymous woman who said she had seen a man drop it into a bin near Bannockburn Miners’ Welfare.
Appearing by video link, McGowan, of Stirling, pleaded guilty to assaulting, injuring and robbing the man by blocking his way, punching him on the head causing him to fall to the ground, searching through his pockets, and taking his wallet, all while acting with others. The incident occurred on October 13, 2019.
McGowan was identified as one of those responsible several months later after forensic scientists identified traces of DNA inside the victim’s back pocket came from McGowan - and confirmed he was the attacker who had put his hand in to steal his wallet.
Solicitor Frazer McCready said: “Mr McGowan has very little recollection of what happened that night - he had been taking a combination of alcohol and drugs.”
Mr McCready said McGowan had hit the man only once, but accepted responsibility for the whole incident on an “art and part” basis.
Sheriff Keith O’Mahony jailed McGowan for 18 months.
