A THUG who 'chased and stabbed' a man in Irvine's Rivergate Shopping Centre has been jailed.
Shaun McDowell was sentenced to 30 months behind bars after he pleaded guilty to four charges at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week.
The incidents took place on January 7 this year.
The 34-year-old admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the Betfred bookmakers on the town's Bridgegate as well as at the Irvine shopping mall.
He refused to leave the premises when requested to do so, shouting, swearing and acting in an aggressive manner.
McDowell also pleaded guilty to carrying a knife in a public place without a reasonable excuse.
The Irvine man also admitted to assaulting a man whilst within the mall.
Court papers stated he pursued the victim and struck him on the body "with a knife or similar implement".
The assault is said to have caused the victim severe injury and has left them permanently disfigured.
The incident prompted a mass police response, with the shopping centre closed to the public and a section 'cordoned off' while officers investigated.
At the time, police said that four people, two men and two women, had been arrested in connection with the matter.
A final charge related to McDowell, formerly of Cheviot Gardens, breaching a condition of bail granted on December 22 last year.
The offender was ordered to stay within his home address between 7pm and 7am each day, but admitted failing to comply with the order at a location on Sloan Avenue.
Following his guilty pleas, Sheriff Murdoch Mactaggart sentenced McDowell to 30 months in prison, backdated to his initial remand on January 8.
Share