Man attacked shopkeeper after threatening to steal replica World Cup trophy

A man attacked a shopkeeper after he threatened to take his replica World Cup trophy.

William Thomson, 33, repeatedly punched the man at the store in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, on July 8.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard how Thomson entered the shop while drunk at 5pm.

Prosecutor Rachel Pollock said: “Thomson told [the victim] that he was going to get the World Cup trophy that was on display.

“[The victim] said that he wasn’t.

“Thomson then began throwing items from the display onto the floor.”

The shopkeeper tried to usher Thomson from the shop.

Miss Pollock added: “Thomson then punched [the victim] twice to the face and struck him to the body with a brush.”

The man was able to get Thomson, of Cambuslang, out of the shop where he continued to shout and swear.

This was overseen by a passerby at the time, who called the police.

Thomson remarked: “What the f*** are you doing? I wasn’t doing anything, put the phone down.”

Thomson went on to strike the phone out of the man’s hand, which then fell to the pavement and smashed.

A passing police car was then flagged down by members of the public.

Thomson refused to remain at the scene and pulled his arm away when an officer tried to put handcuffs on him.

A struggle then took place before Thomson was restrained.

Thomson pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards both of the men.

He also admitted recklessly destroying property as well as obstructing, hindering or resisting police.

Chris Devine, defending, told sentencing: “He accepts full responsibility for these offences.

“He was highly intoxicated and has little recollection of the incident.

“He is greatly remorseful and is ashamed about his behaviour.”

Sheriff Lorraine Glancy KC ordered Thomson to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

She also ordered Thomson to pay the victims £500 each in compensation.

The sheriff told him: “You assaulted someone working in a shop, a decent person going about their lawful business, and you engaged with someone who was phoning the police when seeing your drunk behaviour and broke their mobile phone.

“It is simply appalling behaviour and worthy of the jail.

“You should understand that the only thing keeping you out of the jail today is you work.”

Thomson’s previous convictions include being jailed for two-and-a-half years for attacking his then-pregnant partner.

Drunk Thomson struck her to the head, hand, wrist, and stomach.

The previous hearing was told that Thomson had a chunk of his nose bitten off by a friend on an earlier occasion after they had argued over a pet hamster.

Thomson lost one-third of his nose and had to have skin grafts taken from his forehead and thigh as specialist doctors tried to rebuild it.

Kurtis McLeod, of Bellshill, was jailed for 32 months for the attack.