Two men carried out knife attacks on four strangers in city centre

Two men carried out knife attacks on four complete strangers in a two-hour spree of violence in Glasgow city centre.

Declan Fulton, 26, and Brandon Paterson, 22, targeted the victims late at night last July.

One man was left with a horror facial wound for not having cigarettes to give them.

Paterson was subject to five different bail orders at the time of the crimes.

The pair are now behind bars after they pleaded guilty to what a judge branded “sheer thuggery”.

The attackers were already no strangers to being in bother.

Fulton had previous for violence, weapons, disorder, theft and breaching court orders.

Paterson was also a known offender. He flouted five separate bail orders – one for a drugs charge imposed just a week before these crimes.

Explaining these attacks, prosecutor Neil McCulloch told the High Court in Glasgow: “This case relates to four incidents which took place in Glasgow city centre between 11.20pm on July 8 2024 and 1.30am on July 9.

“This was the assault of several people – who are not known to Fulton and Paterson – at various locations.”

The first victim was first targeted while out walking his dog in Sauchiehall Street and was threatened when one of the assailants told him: “I will slit your dog’s throat.”

He initially questioned them before both claimed they were armed with blades.

They asked him: “Do you know who we are?”

Fulton initially slashed at and tried to stab the man who branded them “cowards”.

The victim was left bleeding from a wound to his elbow – then tailed the pair after they casually walked off.

He approached them in nearby Bath Street where Fulton knifed him in the chest and Paterson hurled a traffic cone at him.

He ended up needing hospital treatment including for a punctured lung.

Mr McCulloch said there was a “potential” threat to his life. He is also permanently scarred.

The next victim was then set upon in a “seemingly unprovoked” attack in Buchanan Street about an hour later when he was punched by Fulton before Paterson joined in.

After an attempt was made to smack him with a glass bottle, Fulton then slashed the man twice with a black-handled blade across the face.

The victim ended up needing a total of 19 stitches for two wounds.

Around 1.20am, a third man was walking with a friend in Dundas Street when the assailants asked for cigarettes, but they did not have any to give.

Mr McCulloch said: “As a result, one of the pair began challenging the man to fight before he approached from behind and slashed him to the right side of his face.”

This caused a nasty wound from this victim’s mouth across his cheek to his ear.

Fulton and Paterson fled the scene. After getting help from a nearby motorist, the victim was taken to hospital for his injuries.

The court heard, like the other men, he is also scarred for life.

The final victim was a Just Eat delivery driver who was targeted just minutes later.

He was struck in Sauchiehall Street having initially given an associate of the pair some water.

Fulton went on to yank open the man’s Just Eat bag and demanded his phone.

Mr McCulloch: “Fulton slashed him on the left hand causing it to bleed heavily.”

The man also ended up in hospital having gone to a nearby hotel for help.

During a probe to catch the attackers, Fulton was arrested later that day.

It was almost a fortnight before Paterson was traced in Glasgow city centre.

The pair admitted in court to being involved in three of the serious assaults with Fulton alone pleading guilty to attacking the Just Eat driver.

Lord Mulholland told them: “This was appalling conduct – sheer thuggery.