A Scots welder was sentenced to unpaid work after concocting a “ludicrous” plot to attack another man in the grounds of a 15th century castle over a £20 cannabis deal.
Joshua George lured his victim to the Dundas Castle estate in South Queensferry, near Edinburgh, before assaulting him.
Covered in blood, the injured man sought help from two guests at the historic castle who were having dinner.
George’s defence agent previously branded a feud between the two men as “classic middle class gangsterism” which was started by the “ridiculous” £20 dispute.
George, 21, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday after sentencing was deferred last month for reports.
Defence agent Chris Fehilly presented medical records to the court to show George was treated at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary after allegedly being assaulted.
The solicitor said George had been attacked a week before the incident at the castle by the same man he targeted.
Mr Fehilly said: “Mr George, for reasons best known to himself, did not inform the authorities.”
He added his client instead “embarked on this very, very foolish and concerning” conduct.
Mr Fehilly said it was a “serious matter” and “custody might be at the forefront of the court’s mind”, but added George had volunteered to deliver food during the pandemic lockdown and this “spoke more eloquently of his character”.
Sentencing him, Sheriff Alistair Noble said George “lured” his victim to a “deserted spot” where he was “quite badly beaten up”.
The sheriff said George should’ve reported the assault on him to the authorities “rather than take revenge”.
Sheriff Noble said custody was “plainly an option” but ordered the first offender to carry out 225 hours of unpaid work.
George, of South Queensferry, had admitted assaulting the victim, luring him to the estate, striking him repeatedly to the head and body to his severe injury, and robbing him of his mobile phone.
Fiscal depute Lynsay Magro previously said the man had received a message from George’s former co-accused Jake Hannan last January 20 to see if he “fancied meeting up for a smoke”.
Ms Magro said Hannan picked up the victim and they drove to a clearing on a private road at the estate.
The court heard how the passenger door was pulled open and George began an assault which lasted “two or three minutes”.
Mr Fehilly previously said his client and the man knew each other and had a “falling out” over the £20.
The solicitor said a “number of threats passed between them” online and the pair “embroiled themselves in a ludicrous course of conduct” and seemed to believe they were in a TV show.
Hannan, 19, of Newcastle, had appeared on the charge with George but his not guilty plea was previously accepted by the Crown.
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