Jail for Fife Buckfast thief who attacked shop workers and fractured stranger’s skull

A thief who attacked two shop workers and a stranger in the street has been jailed for three years.

Lennon McAlpine assaulted employees at the Spar in Burntisland’s Cromwell Road after stealing two bottles of Buckfast.

Two weeks later, the 24-year-old was caught on CCTV hitting a 64-year-old stranger, causing him to fall and strike his head on the road outside an address in Houliston Avenue, Inverkeithing.

Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard the man suffered a skull fracture and brain bleed.

McAlpine appeared in court by video link to prison for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to an assault to severe injury, two other assaults and theft.

Sheriff Susan Duff told McAlpine: “People who work in shops and other public-facing roles do not go to work to be assaulted by people like you.

“They deserve protection of the court.

“In addition, you assaulted a 64-year-old man in the street who was unknown to you.

“There is no alternative to a custodial sentence”.

She jailed McAlpine for a total of three years, backdated to May 24 when he was first remanded.

Attacked stranger

Prosecutor Lee-Anne Barclay told the court previously McAlpine met his 64-year-old victim outside an address in Inverkeithing on May 10 this year.

CCTV footage from a nearby house showed him hitting the man in the head and neck after an angry exchange, causing him to fall and strike his head on the road.

A witness found the victim lying on the ground with blood around his head and she called an ambulance.

While attending to him, she saw a male she believed to be McAlpine riding past on a pedal bike – his DNA was later found on the abandoned bike – without stopping to help.

A witness went to the high street for a defibrillator and the victim was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary due to softening to his skull and bleeding from the ear.

A scan confirmed a skull fracture and bleed on the brain.

He was released from hospital several days later and has made a recovery but still has difficulty hearing in one ear.

Buckfast chaos

The offence came 12 days after violent McAlpine had caused chaos in the Spar shop in Burntisland.

McAlpine took two bottles of Buckfast and walked out, followed by two shop assistants.

A struggle ensued but they managed to escort him back to the shop before summoning police using in-store panic alarms and calling 999.

McAlpine punched one of the men to the head and face multiple times, scratched his face, bit him on his arms and thumb, breaking the skin and drawing blood.

McAlpine punched the other worker to the face, causing him to fall, and kicked his legs.

He then wrecked the inside of the shop, before leaving with a £9 bottle of Buckfast.

CCTV captured the entire incident and police identified McAlpine.

He was traced at a property in Monifieth on May 22 and arrested.

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