Street brawling offender jets off for family holiday in Turkey instead of turning up at court

Jake McLay, 20, failed to appear at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday, having had pleaded guilty to an assault outside Carron Works Wetherspoons, Bank Street,

Falkirk on January 23 last year – pushing a man to the body, causing him to fall and strike his head on the ground to his injury.

At an earlier appearance it was stated McLay had exchanged words with the complainer and then pushed him to the body, causing him to fall back so his head hit the concrete, causing it to bleed.

At the time it was stated there was some level of provocation involved in that the man had been blowing kisses towards McLay.

McLay had pleaded guilty to other assaults committed outside the Royal Mail, 1 Garrison Place and Grahamston Railway Station and in Vicar Street, Falkirk on February 26, 2022.

Earlier this year Sheriff Christopher Shead placed McLay on a supervised community payback order for 12 months with the condition he complete 160 hours of unpaid work in that time.

However, at last Thursday’s court Sheriff Simon Collins learned McLay was absent from court because he was “currently on holiday in Turkey with his family”.

Sheriff Collins said: “I appreciate we all need holidays, but it doesn’t really appear he is taking it as seriously as he should be.”

He continued the case to June 1 to allow McLay, 8 Comely Park Gardens, Falkirk, to return from his holidays to “explain himself”.