A MAN has been cleared of allegations that he left a couple scarred for life in a bottle attack in Greenock.

But Shaun Charles, of Blacklands Crescent in Kilwinning, was locked up by a sheriff for committing other offences on the same night.

Charles had gone on trial over allegations that he attacked a man and a woman at an address in the town's Millar Street on July 9, 2022.

He was accused of striking the man on the head with a bottle to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement, and of severely injuring the woman by punching her on the head and body and striking her with a broken bottle.

Jurors at Greenock Sheriff Court heard evidence from both complainers, another woman who was in the property at the time of the alleged attack, and the accused.

The court heard the female complainer was ‘uncomfortable’ with Charles being in the house due to ‘inappropriate comments’ he had made.

The witness said he ‘completely lost control’ after refusing to leave, with an altercation then taking place in a small hallway.

A jury cleared Shaun Charles of the assault allegations against him in less than two hours. (Image: Newsquest)

In her closing remarks, fiscal depute Dana Barclay described the woman’s evidence as ‘vivid’.

The woman claimed she saw Charles attacking her partner and struck him with a bottle in a bid to stop the assault.

Ms Barclay said: “Before her eyes, her partner was being viciously attacked by Shaun Charles.

“She thought he was going to kill her partner. She was simply in fear for her partner’s life.”

The court heard that the male complainer sustained a laceration to his head which has left him with a lifelong scar, with the woman suffering an injury to her arm.

Charles’ lawyer Amy Spencer had lodged a special defence of self defence at the beginning of the trial.

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In her speech to the jury, Ms Spencer said: “Three Crown witnesses cannot agree what happened. How can you be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt?

“In my submission, the Crown case is a shambles.”

The jury of six men and nine women returned not guilty verdicts by majority in relation to both assault allegations in less than two hours.

Before the trial, Charles had admitted acting in racially aggravated manner and uttering offensive remarks to police officers at Inverclyde Royal Hospital, and breaching a court-imposed curfew.

He also admitted wilfully or recklessly destroying or damaging another’s property on Millar Street by smashing a glass door and throwing a chair at a window, causing it to break.

Charles was acquitted on two assault allegations at Greenock Sheriff Court, but was handed a six-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to two other charges. (Image: Newsquest)

Ms Spencer told the court Charles is currently serving a prison sentence in relation to another matter.

Sheriff Anthony McGeehan said: “I take a very dim view of the offences to which you have pleaded guilty.

“You were subject to special conditions of bail not to enter Greenock and to observe a curfew.

“You made a conscious decision to enter Greenock and to breach the curfew.

“But for those decisions, you would not be sitting where you are sitting today.”

Sheriff McGeehan also told Charles he took a 'very serious view’ of the racist remarks made to police officers and the fact that he committed this offence in a hospital setting.

He added: “In light of the circumstances of all these offences and in light of your record, I’m satisfied that there’s no alternative but to deal with these matters by way of custody.”

Sheriff McGeehan jailed Charles for six months, to be served at the expiry of his current sentence.