Teenager Daniel Taylor detained over attack on Azeem Mohammed
A teenager who brutally attacked an Indian student as he returned from a Hogmanay night out in Glasgow has been detained for 30 months.
Daniel Taylor, 19, punched Azeem Mohammed and kicked and stamped on him as he lay on the ground in the city's Pollokshields area on 1 January 2014.
The 23-year-old suffered a brain injury and spent almost three months in hospital.
Taylor admitted a charge of assault to severe injury and danger of life.
He had originally faced an attempted murder charge before his guilty plea to the lesser charge was accepted by the Crown.
Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lady Wise told Taylor: "You have pled guilty to an extremely serious attack on a young student. You kicked him in the head, face and body until he was unconscious.
"It is only as a result of extreme good fortune that he has made a good physical recovery, but it is clear from information available to me that the psychological consequences on your victim continue."
The judge said she accepted that Taylor, of Glasgow, had shown "very genuine remorse" following the offence.
She told him that he would have faced a three-year sentence but for his guilty plea.
The court heard that Mr Mohammed, who was studying at Glasgow Nautical College, had spent the evening with friends in Glasgow city centre celebrating Hogmanay.
They were heading home to a flat in the Pollokshields area when Taylor and Melissa McDonald, who was 16 at the time, approached them.
McDonald punched one of them, Gowthamkarthik Panneerselvam, during a confrontation.
The court heard that Taylor became aggressive towards Mr Mohammed and punched him in the face then kicked and stamped on him.
A 999 call was made for police and an ambulance and Taylor and McDonald, now 18, walked away together leaving the victim lying on the road.
Emergency services arrived to find Mr Mohammed unconscious and unresponsive, with an obvious swelling to the right side of his head.
The court heard that he had suffered life-threatening injuries but was given intensive medical care. His father flew to be at his bedside from Chennai.
McDonald, from Glasgow, was given a community payback order and ordered to carry out 50 hours unpaid work after admitting assault and racially abusing a police officer.