Livingston nightclub bouncer fractured customer's jaw
Two bouncers were sacked after they assaulted a customer outside a nightclub, a court has heard.
Russell McCrum, 25, and Callum Byers, 23, were found guilty of injuring clubber Paul Nothard.
Both men were working as bouncers for Club Earth in Livingston at the time of the incident.
McCrum pled guilty on indictment to punching Mr Nothard and Byers admitted culpably and recklessly pushing him so that he injured himself.
Livingston Sheriff Court heard Mr Nothard had been refused entry to Club Earth in West Lothian because he was too drunk.
Lyndsey Armstrong, prosecuting, said he had pleaded repeatedly with the stewards to let him in to join his friends.
After 40 to 50 minutes witnesses saw McCrum approach Mr Nothard, put his left hand behind his head and punch him in the face with his right hand.
The single blow fractured Mr Nothard's jaw.
Byers, who had seen the confrontation, ran over and pushed the injured man away.
As a result Mr Nothard struck his head on the ground bruising his forehead and the bridge of his nose.
Mrs Armstrong said: "Friends of the witness had come outside and observed blood coming from his mouth and they took him in a taxi to St John's Hospital.
"Ultimately it was determined that the injury suffered as a result of the punch was an open fracture to the witness's jaw.
"It required an operation with a metal plate being fitted."
Sarah Meehan, defending McCrum, said her client had tried to reason with Mr Nothard, explaining that he was too drunk to get into the club.
She said: "The complainer took no notice of that and tried to goad Mr McCrum.
"The complainer knocked Mr McCrum's glasses off his face. He couldn't see and this gave him a fright.
"He accepts he reacted in a violent way by punching the complainer once on the jaw.
"This is a matter he's deeply ashamed of and he's wholly embarrassed he finds himself sitting in the dock today."
The court was told that the convictions would prevent both accused from working in the security industry again.
Sheriff Valerie Johnston sentenced McCrum to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work under a community payback order and put him under supervision for 18 months.
She told him: "You had eight years experience within that industry and training to deal with this man's behaviour, which I imagine is not uncommon outside these nightclubs.
"You should have been able to deal with that in a way that did not involve resorting to the extreme violence that you did."
The sheriff fined Byers £400 for his role in the assault.