A vulnerable Aberdeen man with a condition causing his muscles to “waste away” fought off an attacker at his home with a baseball bat.
The 48-year-old male, who has a neuromuscular disorder, was at his home in the Torry area of the city when Neil Wilson turned up at his door at 12.40am.
When the man answered the door Wilson, 33, barged in and grabbed him by the neck while demanding “where’s the money?”.
Wilson also punched the man several times before he managed to grab a baseball bat and strike Wilson on the arm, causing the cowardly attacker to leg it.
Fiscal depute Felicity Merson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court: “The complainer, a 48-year-old male, lived alone at the locus, a one-bedroom house.
“He suffers from neuromuscular disorder, which he described as a condition that means his muscles are wasting away.
“He is often short of breath and tired. He is on medication for this, but it doesn’t agree with him and he often vomits. This has resulted in the complainer being underweight and, at the time of this incident, he was waiting for a date to go to hospital for a feeding tube to be inserted.
“He rarely leaves his home and keeps his door locked while at home.
“The complainer does not know the accused or the other person involved.”
Mrs Merson said at 12.40am on August 7 the man was watching TV and just drifting off to sleep when he heard a knock at the door and a man’s voice shouting his name.
She said: “As he opened the door, the accused barged into the locus where he grabbed the complainer by the neck with one hand and pushed him against a wall.
“The accused then began shouting ‘where’s the money, where’s the money?’ before punching the complainer at least twice on the face using his free hand.
“The complainer describes these as ‘proper punches’.
“A female who had been standing outside then pushed past both men and into the house. At this point the complainer and accused ended up on the ground just outside the locus where the complainer was shouting that he didn’t have any money. He shouted for help.
“As the complainer lay on the ground the accused punched him on the face again before running inside.”
The man managed to get back to his feet by which time the female had run back out of the property. He saw Wilson looking around his home.
Mrs Merson said: “The complainer picked up a baseball bat from within the living room and hit the accused on the arm with it.
“The accused left immediately and the complainer called 999.”
A spare set of house keys, around £50 in cash and a packet of cigarettes had been stolen.
Mrs Merson said: “Given that the accused had not been alone in the living room, it appeared that the female must have taken these items.”
Wilson and the woman were traced nearby, and a swab of blood found on Wilson’s hand was a DNA match for the complainer.
The court heard the victim had encountered Wilson around a week earlier, when Wilson had been with a mutual friend who had greeted the man and referred to him by name, accounting for Wilson being able to call out his name when he knocked at the door.
Wilson’s victim was left with a burst lip and cuts to the left side of his face, under his eye and to his chin.
Wilson, a prisoner of HMP Grampian, pled guilty to a charge of assault to injury and robbery while acting along with another.
A female co-accused had appeared alongside Wilson at an earlier stage in proceedings, but the crown confirmed the charges had been dropped against her.
Sheriff Graeme Napier deferred sentence on Wilson and ordered the preparation of a social work report.
Defence agent Mike Monro reserved mitigation until the sentencing hearing.
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