Bottle-slashing Leeds thug with a history of using weapons left victim permanently scarred

Adam Scott had attacked the man at a house less than two weeks before, punching and choking the victim after drinking up to 10 cans of lager. The man said he did not know the defendant, but felt Scott took an instant dislike to him when he tried to shake Scott’s hand after entering the house, which he ignored.

Later he dragged the man by his collar before attacking him as he lay prone on the sofa, punching him four or five times.

But at around 3.30am on October 20, 2020, some 11 days after the first attack, the victim had been outside the property when he noticed Scott walking quickly towards him before lunging and lashing out at the man’s face. The victim left the scene but did not realise until he reached home that his face had been slashed. He was taken to hospital by ambulance and the wound was stitched. He was told the scar on his face will be permanent.

Scott, 38, was arrested and had three police interviews in the weeks that followed. He first gave a no-comment interview. He also said nothing during a second interview when he was told the victim’s DNA was found on him.

Prosecuting the case at Leeds Crown Court, Mehran Nassiri said that during Scott’s final interview, after which he had been formally identified by the victim, he claimed he saw the victim outside the property so confronted him.

An expert had also confirmed that it was either a knife or likely a broken bottle that was used on the man’s face.

Scott, of Bodmin Square, Middleton, has seven convictions for 13 offences, including an incident in 2003 when he attacked a person with a broken bottle. In 2005 he slashed a man to face with a knife.

He admitted a charge of section 20 wounding and ABH on the victim across the two incidents. Mitigating, Andrew Petterson said there was a “significant gap” in Scott’s offending between 2005 and 2020.

He said the was a hard worker with a “strong employment history”, and that his partner is expecting their child.

But Judge Tom Bayliss KC said an extended sentence was required because it was the third time he had used a weapon on a person. He jailed him for five years, made up of 43 months’ jail, and 17 months on an extended license period. He also gave him a restraining order to keep him away from the victim.

He told him: “Your personal circumstances are that you are hard-working man with family responsibilities. Your present partner is expecting your child in two or three months’ time. That is one side of you. The other is that you are prone to drinking and prone to behaving violently when in drink.

"It’s not the first time you have been before the court for offences of this nature. While they are many years ago they resonate with your behaviour in this case. You have a propensity to use sharp objects to inflict injury. I’m quite sure you are a risk of causing serious harm.”