Motherwell men in court over hammer attack

Nov 12 2009

A COURT was told this week how two masked men entered a Motherwell house and attacked occupants there with hammers.

Householder Stephen Chance said he had been drinking in the living room of his Northall Quadrant home with his son, also Stephen, and friends David Kerr, Mark Gillon and Paul Kerr late on the evening of May 16 this year.

Questioned by fiscal depute John Penman, Mr Chance (39) told Hamilton Sheriff Court that when the two masked men first appeared he thought it was friends “kidding on”. However, when one of the men struck Mark Gillon on the head with a hammer he realised things were “serious”.

The witness said he grabbed one whom he described as “fat” and pulled him back on to a couch on top of him, hauled his ski mask off and “instinctively” gouged the man’s eyes.

Mr Chance said while holding the ‘fat’ man he saw David Kerr struggling with the other man. He said the man was ‘wee’ and ‘stocky’, and hit his friend on the face with a hammer.

The witness said the ski mask was also removed by them.

Asked by Mr Penman if he could point to anyone in court whom he had just described, he identified two men in the dock.

He said the ‘fat’ one was James Sneddon and the ‘wee stocky one’ was Mark Black.

Mr Chance claimed Black had been responsible for hitting David Kerr and Mark Gillon with a hammer.

After Mr Chance removed the mask, he said Sneddon got to his feet and went into the hall.

Black, he added, must have done the same.

Sneddon, still holding a hammer, had tried to get out the front door which was located down a flight of stairs. However, Mr Chance thought the door could have been locked and Sneddon ran back up the stairs.

Mr Chance, however, pulled Sneddon back down the stairs and started punching the accused in the stomach.

Sneddon made it out the front door and Mr Chance ran after him. He said Black was also outside carrying a hammer and ran towards Mr Chance.

However, he jumped a fence into the next garden and Sneddon ran out the front gate and down the road.

Mr Chance said he went to chase the men, but David Kerr held him back and locked the door behind them.

He said he had been hit on the knee with a hammer during the attack and scratched with the hammer forks on his back. He could not say how it had occurred.

His knee was swollen and he was later treated at Wishaw General Hospital where his knee was X-rayed and bandaged.

At Hamilton Sheriff Court on Tuesday Black, whose address was given as Addiewell Prison, and Sneddon, of Postgate, Hamilton, denied five assault charges. They were said to have assaulted Mark Gillon by repeatedly striking him on the head with hammers to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement and repeatedly striking David Kerr with hammers to his injury.

The accused were also alleged to have assaulted Stephen Chance snr, Stephen Chance jnr and Paul Kerr with a hammer to their injury.

The trial before Sheriff Danny Scullion was continuing yesterday as the Advertiser went to press.