Brothers beat man with his own crutches

Two brothers carried out a vicious attack in a Hawick street in broad daylight. assaulting their victim with his own crutches.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court.Jedburgh Sheriff Court.
Jedburgh Sheriff Court.

Colin Adamson, 19 and his elder brother Shane Adamson, 22, both from Hawick, were seen on camera launching the attack on Jason Lowe on North Bridge Street, Hawick, on June 11.

Jedburgh Sheriff Court was shown shocking video footage of the attack, caught on CCTV, which showed the two men pushing the victim to the ground, and repeatedly punching and kicking him to the head and body, before stealing his crutches and striking him to the body with them.

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The video also showed one passer-by finally breaking up the attack.

Both Shane, of Allars Crescent, and Colin, of Baker Street, had previously pleaded not guilty to the offence, but changed their pleas after seeing the footage.

Colin Adamson claimed he “saw red” and “lost control” during the incident.

His defence lawyer Linsey Brown said: “He lost control of his actions and is deeply remorseful for it. He understands he should not have handled the situation in this way.

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“He suffers from ADHD and this can cause him to see red and act out.”

She added: “He was suffering from severe mental health problems ... he was hearing voices. This led to excessive drinking on his part.

“He also realises the effect that alcohol has had on his behaviour.”

Ms Brown added that her client is currently serving a six-month prison sentence with a release date not due until February 13, 2019.

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Graham Fraser, prosecuting, asked that the video be shown to the court for it would “show things I could not possibly describe.”

He added: “The astonishing thing, given the severity and ferocity of that attack, is that he received no significant injuries.

“It would not have been broken up were it not for the brave intervention from a passer-by.”

Mr Fraser told the court that the men both had previous convictions and were both on bail at the time of the assault.

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The brothers were remanded in custody and Sheriff Peter Paterson deferred sentencing until September 24 at Selkirk Sheriff Court, as due to Colin Adamson’s age background reports had to be produced.

He added they should be under no “under no illusions” that a prison sentence will be imposed on that date.

Shane Adamson’s lawyer Mat Patrick said he would reserve his plea in mitigation until the sentencing diet.

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