Drunk teenager doused students with CS spray

Jamie MacDonald • Published 13 May 2010 09:46

A THUG who doused two complete strangers with CS spray - hitting one in the eye - has managed to avoid a jail sentence.

Jamie Roy (19), of Sandpiper Meadows, Alloa, launched an unprovoked attack on two students as they were walking home after a Christmas night out.

He screamed "have some of this" before targeting both with repeated blasts from an American-made self-defence spray, which is banned in Britain under the Firearms Act.

Corrosive liquid hit one of the students in the eye, while the other received a dose on the arm, face, cheek and neck.

Drunken Roy strolled off after the attack and continued a night out with friends in Stirling, while his victims sought hospital treatment.

Keri Marshall, prosecuting, said the students had been at the Dusk nightclub in Stirling on the night of 9 December 2009 and were walking in Barnton Street, near the city centre, when they were approached by Roy and another person.

Miss Marshall, the depute fiscal, said that, without warning, Roy drew a canister and sprayed them with a "noxious substance".

The two students suffered immediate irritation and both tried, unsuccessfully, to wash the substance off before seeking medical attention at Stirling Royal Infirmary. Both were washed clean of the substance at the hospital.

One of the students was referred to an eye specialist at Falkirk Royal Infirmary for treatment to prevent long-term damage, while the other suffered irritation. Luckily the pair suffered no lasting effects.

Search

The incident was reported to police who spotted Roy on CCTV wandering brazenly around the city centre with what appeared to be the canister. His home was later searched and the canister seized and examined.

Firearms investigators at Central Scotland Police found it contained a cocktail of banned substances, including an active ingredient of CS gas and an extract of red-hot chillies used in so-called "pepper" sprays.

Roy told police that the canister was a self-defence device given to him by an American woman working in Scotland as a nanny.

Unemployed Roy pleaded guilty at Stirling Sheriff Court to two charges of assault to injury and one of possessing a prohibited weapon.

Jim Savage, defending, said Roy had been drunk.

He added, "If he'd been sober he knows he wouldn't find himself in this position. He is remorseful and concerned about the repercussions."

Sheriff Andrew Cubie sentenced Roy to 240 hours community service and ordered him to pay the students £250 compensation each.

He said, "This is a very serious matter concerning possession and use of a firearm. You targeted two complete strangers, spraying gas in their faces.

"In the circumstances I think community service is appropriate but you are just lucky that there were no serious consequences for these people you targeted."

Tweet

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.

Follow @alloatiser