A horror brawl broke out in an Auchinleck street on Hogmanay after a man brandished two blades at a father and son in a row over a damaged van. 

Kris Leitch pleaded guilty to a single charge of serious assault when he appeared in court last week following the fight in Aird Avenue.

The Crown accepted pleas of not guilty to charges relating to the alleged involvement of Leitch’s father, Robert Leitch, in the incident on December 31, 2022.

Procurator fiscal depute Chris Munro told Ayr Sheriff Court: "The complainer was living across the street from the locus of the offence.

“On Saturday, December 31, 2022, at around 5.20pm, the accused and his father had attended the complainer’s door to discuss damage that had been caused to a van the previous night.

“There was a disagreement, and both turned up at the complainer’s property.

“The witness came out with a knife in each hand and then entered the garden of Robert Leitch, brandishing the knives and attempting to strike them with the knives.

“They started throwing objects from the garden to prevent injury. These included bricks and a slab.

“The slab struck the witness, who then fell to the ground, where he was repeatedly punched and kicked by Kris Leitch and another.

“This included various punches, kicks and a stamp to the head.”

Describing how the incident unfolded from there, Mr Mundo continued: "The witness then gets up to his knees and places both hands up in a placating move. The accused and the other person hit the witness head a few more times, then move away.

"The witness then stands up and staggers back home. Robert Leitch begins to clean the items.”

The injured man required six stitches to a head wound. Police later attended and all parties were charged in connection with the incident.

The court was shown CCTV images in which screams of "leave him alone" could be heard towards the end of the footage.

Robert Logan, defending, said Kris Leitch had a criminal record, but added that he would reserve further comments in mitigation for a later hearing, anticipating that background reports would be sought.

Sheriff Shirley Foran did indeed decide to defer sentence for a criminal justice social work report and a ‘restriction of liberty order’ assessment, and continued Leitch’s bail.

He will return to court for sentencing at a later date.