A FORMER soldier who scarred a man was snared after he left his wallet and mobile phone at the scene.

Gavin Robertson, 38, attacked Hugh Coyle 49, outside his home in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, last December.

The pair came to blows after Mr Coyle heard Robertson making a noise outside his house.

Mr Coyle confronted the medically-discharged soldier but was stabbed with a “piece of glass or stone” during a fight.

Robertson fled the scene but officers later traced him.

Prosecutor Mark Allan said: “The accused left his wallet and mobile phone behind. 

“When police arrived it didn’t take them long to locate the accused nearby.”

He pleaded guilty under provocation yesterday at Glasgow Sheriff Court to assault to Mr Coyle’s severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

Robertson was on bail from another offence at the time of the incident.

The court heard Robertson was in the area to pick up clothes from an ex-partner at her property.

Mr Coyle later heard a noise outside his house and went to investigate.

Robertson and Mr Coyle “became involved in a fight” and exchanged blows on the ground.

Robertson repeatedly struck Mr Coyle to the head with his hand during the struggle.

Prosecutor Mark Allan said: “Each man grabbed items on the ground nearby.

“Robertson grabbed a sharp implement and used it to stab Mr Coyle several times on the thigh."

Robertson admitted to officers that he was involved in a fight and had used a sharp item to stabbed Mr Coyle repeatedly.

Mr Coyle meantime was taken to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for treatment to wounds to his shoulder, elbow and thigh which have left him scarred.

Lawyer Jackson Bateman, defending, said Robertson has a short criminal record starting in 2017 which includes a domestic assault.

He added: “Mr Robertson was medically discharged from the army after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“This has had an effect on him."

Sentence was deferred until May for background reports by Sheriff Joan Kerr.

Robertson, of the city’s Ibrox area, who appeared from custody, was bailed meantime.

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