A MAN seriously injured in a stabbing was jailed for two years today as his alleged attacker walked free.
Sentencing stonemason Neil Cowan, 27, a judge called for tougher penalties for reluctant witnesses.
Chaavan Medaci, 21, had been accused of breaking a court-imposed curfew and attempting to murder Cowan in a pub in Musselburgh last July.
But on
ly minutes into his trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, Medaci of Melbourne Road, North Berwick, was cleared.
Advocate depute Neil Beardmore dropped the charges when Cowan – who had already tried to dispute his signature on a police statement – refused to answer further questions.
After the jury were sent away Cowan was brought back from the cells and judge Lord Uist told him: "There can be no more serious contempt of court."
The judge continued: "The maximum sentence for the contempt of court which you have committed – which I don't understand and which I think requires review – is two years.
"Had the maximum been longer I would have imposed longer for a contempt of court which strikes at the very root of justice."
Cowan is already serving a sentence of 59 months for a knife assault and Lord Uist ordered him to complete that prison term first.
Solicitor advocate Richard Goddard, defending, said that Cowan was seriously injured when he was stabbed in Musselburgh's North High Street. He lived in the area with his girlfriend and their two young children.
He was worried about them as well as his own safety in Edinburgh's Saughton jail.
Cowan apologised and said he had not meant to show any disrespect.
Lord Uist told him: "If a witness is in a state of fear it is his duty to speak to the police."
The full article contains 295 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
