Vicious knife thug sentenced to five years for vicious assaults

Apr 8 2010 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

A KNIFE attack victim has questioned the decision to have the man who nearly killed him sentenced in a sheriff court.

Kieran Dooey (20) had his throat slashed by Stuart McLean, who was sentenced to five years in prison at Hamilton Sheriff Court last week for a spree of brutal assaults that left another two youths severely injured.

The jail term is the maximum that can be imposed in a sheriff court in Scotland but Kieran is adamant that his attacker should have been sentenced at the High Court, where McLean could have faced a longer spell in prison.

Kieran, from Motherwell, had been in the Palace Grounds Retail Park on July 27, 2008, with two friends when they were subjected to a horror knife attack by McLean, from Paisley, and his unknown accomplices.

The blade missed Kieran’s jugular vein by one millimetre and left him seriously injured

This week, Kieran – who was just 18 at the time of the attack – welcomed the court’s decision to jail McLean for five years, but emphasised his belief that his attacker should have been sentenced at the High Court.

He said: “It is good news that he was sent down. I’m obviously pleased, but I still think that the case should have been called at the High Court. The guy nearly killed me.

“He got the maximum in the Sheriff Court, which is a good thing. But if it had been called at the High Court, he would have been given more, which is what he deserves.

“I’m now able to move on from this, but I still have the scar.

“While it doesn’t make up for what he did, it certainly makes me feel a bit happier to know that he’s in jail.”

Kieran, of Motherwell, underwent surgery for his injuries, but the psychological scars forced him to drop out of college.

The court heard how McLean, who was with three others, almost cut the throat of Kieran during a vicious knife attack in front of dozens of stunned motorists in a Hamilton car park.

Two others were injured by McLean – a first offender – and his unknown accomplices.

Kieran’s friend, Antony Brophy (20), was scarred for life after being bottled in the face, while 18-year-old Graham McCartney’s ear was almost severed as the result of a knife wound.

Last month, a jury found McLean guilty of six separate charges, while acting with others, related to the incident near to Homebase in Palace Grounds Retail Park on July 27, 2008.

The 21-year-old was convicted of assaulting Kieran by striking him on the head with a knife or similar instrument to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and impairment and to the danger of his life.

The thug was also found guilty of assaulting Graham McCartney by punching him to the body, taking hold of him and striking his head and body with a knife to his severe injury.

McLean was also convicted of assaulting Brophy by striking him on the face with a bottle to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

Further charges included a racial assault on Ryan Shear, serious vandalism of Shear’s Honda car, and racial abuse.

The incident happened during an altercation between Kieran’s friends and McLean’s on a summer night, and had arisen from racial abuse towards Kieran’s pal, Ryan.

When Ryan (20) confronted the thugs as they sat in their Ford Fiesta car, he and his friends were set upon with knives and bottles.

Kieran, who had not been involved in the fighting, received his wound after McLean ran over and struck him on the face with a knife.

He said: “I wasn’t aware how seriously I was injured. It thought I’d been punched.

“But then I felt my face go all hot, and there was a lot of blood.

“When my friend started panicking, I knew it was serious.

“He (McLean) had cut me from my earlobe to my chin, and it was close to my jugular. One millimetre closer and I would be dead.”

Despite three others being with McLean on the night of violence, only the 21-year-old faced charges.

At court last week, Sheriff Marie Smart sentenced the Paisley thug to five years in jail, due to the seriousness of the offence and the injuries suffered by the victims.