An Edinburgh street magician bottled a man after trying to show him a card trick.
Matthew Walsh smashed a bottle over the head of 58-year-old Raymond King after an argument broke out about a bag.
The Daily Record reports that the victim was left with cuts and bruises following the attack, which happened in Bristo Square on September 29.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard on Tuesday how 35-year-old Walsh "accidentally" picked up the victim's bag thinking it was his own before a heated discussion began.
Walsh, who performs magic in the city centre, pled guilty to other offences, including theft, and was ordered to complete a drug treatment and testing order (DTTO).
Fiscal depute Ross Price told the court how the magician approached King in Briston Square and tried to engage him in a card trick before "some flavour of argument" began.
The court heard how Walsh got his hands on a green glass bottle and hit his victim over the head with it. The man was left with a laceration at his right eyebrow which needed butterfly stitches, and a cut and bruising to his right cheek.
Walsh admitted assaulting Raymond on September 29 by struggling with him and repeatedly hitting him with a glass bottle to his injury.
Defence solicitor Andrew Docherty said Walsh relied on magic tricks as "one of his means of income" and picked up his victim's bag "thinking it was own" and that led to the altercation.
The solicitor said Walsh’s “main difficulty” was with drugs.
He also pled guilty to stealing alcohol from Tesco on Princes Street on May 10, and assaulting two men, John Grieve and Rhys Thomas.
He further admitted assaulting Scott Ongley who was working at Tesco Express on Brunswick Place in Leith on September 8.
Sheriff Peter McCormack told Walsh, who lives in Salvation Army accommodation, that he was “within a wafer of custody” over the bottle attack.
The sheriff imposed an 18-month DTTO on Walsh and warned him he faced jail if he failed to comply with its terms.
