Two Men Jailed for Music Festival Attack That Left Attendee Blind in One Eye

Two men have been jailed after attacking a university lecturer at a Scottish music festival and leaving him permanently blind in one eye, the BBC reports.

Patrick Kerr, 33, and Simon Tierney, 38, were sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow to terms of five-and-a-half and four-and-a-half years in prison, respectively. The pair assaulted the victim, 53-year-old Antonio Grant, at the Rewind Festival at Scone Palace in July 2023.

Grant, who was attending the festival with his family, did not personally know Kerr or Tierney but had engaged in brief and "polite" conversation with them earlier that day. The assault reportedly occurred after Grant declined Tierney's offer of a chip. The former was punched in the head and knocked to the ground, then repeatedly kicked and punched by both assailants.

The festival's security intervened to stop the attack, but the victim sustained serious injuries, including six broken teeth, the permanent loss of vision in his right eye and extensive facial trauma that required the insertion of a metal plate into his jaw.

Both men admitted to the assault and pleaded guilty to causing severe injury and permanent disfigurement. Upon sentencing, the judge decried their actions as a "brutal, cowardly alcohol-fueled attack on a vulnerable victim." Both Kerr and Tierney will be supervised for two years after their release and are banned indefinitely from contacting the victim.