‘Time served’ on remand for man who assaulted teenager

‘Time served’ on remand for man who assaulted teenager

Archibald Ferguson McLean (57) pleaded guilty to assault, breach of the peace and obstructing a police officer.

McLean had already been held on remand for 110 days and was released following a court hearing on Friday due to time served while on remand.

Outlining the case, Crown Advocate Richard Pedley, prosecuting, said that on 25 January, McLean was at a property in town when he walked into the sitting room and found the teenager asleep on the sofa.

The boy then woke up and words were exchanged, before McLean jumped on to his legs. The defendant then grabbed the teenager around the throat, leaving him with red marks on his skin.

The court heard that the defendant was taken to police headquarters, interviewed and bailed on the condition that he did not return to the property.

A day later, the defendant appeared in the Magistrate’s Court and was released on bail after pleading guilty to assault.

The following day the States police received a call that McLean was climbing onto the property’s first floor balcony and banging on the windows and doors. He was escorted away and told not to return.

However, officers returned two hours later after receiving a call that the defendant was trying to gain access to the property again through a balcony door.

One officer said that McLean seemed drunk and became unco-operative when they escorted him off the premises. He was then arrested.

Two days later, McLean breached his bail conditions by refusing to obey a police officer and he was held on remand.

Crown Advocate Pedley asked the court to impose a sentence of seven months imprisonment along with a restraining order preventing him from having contact with his victim for five years.

However, Advocate James Bell, defending, argued that the order was not necessary or appropriate and that his client should be released from prison as he had already served 110 days on remand.

In sentencing, the court agreed to impose a prison sentence of ‘time served’ and released McLean.

The court also imposed a 12-month restraining order banning McLean from being within 50 metres of the victim.

The Bailiff Sir William Bailhache was presiding, and Jurats Sally Sparrow and Suzanne Marett-Crosby were sitting.

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