Court hears vulnerable man continues to suffer pain two years after being hospitalised in 'unprovoked attack'
Two teenagers have been sentenced...
Last updated 21st Jul 2025
A court's heard two teenagers beat a vulnerable man in Galashiels so badly he had to have two metal plates inserted into his face and now struggles to eat due to the ongoing pain.
Police found the 24-year-old surrounded by pools of blood in the town's Greenbank Street in the early hours of May the 21st, 2023, following what a Sheriff described as "an unprovoked and cowardly attack".
Kamryn Painter and Christopher Wilson were both aged 17 when, acting with others, they pounced on their victim, who is registered disabled and has a mental age of 14 or 15.
After threatening the man, the thugs knocked him to the ground and continued to punch and kick him to the head and body with what a prosecutor described as "significant force" - to his severe injury, impairment and permanent disfigurement.
Selkirk Sheriff Court today (Monday) heard the attack, which unfolded around half past midnight, only came to an end after neighbours heard the disturbance, and raised the alarm.
Painter and Wilson, who fled in the direction of the nearby Tesco store, were caught following a trawl of CCTV.
The victim - who we're not naming - suffered numerous facial fractures, a broken finger, and scarring on his nose.
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Painter's solicitor confirmed his client didn't know the man before they bumped into each other that night.
And he added: "Had he (Painter) not taken alcohol and cocaine then this may not have happened."
But he pointed out Painter, now 19, had moved to Retford in Nottinghamshire following the incident and had stayed out of trouble since.
Wilson's solicitor said his client - also now 19 and a third-year apprentice joiner, living in Langlee - was heavily under the influence of alcohol at the time of the attack and didn't recall much about it.
But he said he accepts full responsibility and had ceased any use of drugs.
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Painter and Wilson only pled guilty to the assault shortly before their case was due to go to trial.
Sheriff Gerard Sinclair revealed he had been shown photographs of their victim's "appalling" injuries, and branded the attack "senseless".
He explained the assault had met the custody threshold but, having regard for the Sentencing Young People guidelines and that both had already been the subject of a night-time curfew while the case was progressing through the court, he was "only just" persuaded there was another option.
Painter and Wilson were instead ordered to complete 240 hours of unpaid work as part of an 18-month Community Payback Order, with supervision requirements.
Each must also pay their victim £1,000 in compensation, in addition to a £40 Victim Surcharge.
Sheriff Sinclair said the sentence is a direct alternative to custody.
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