East Lothian teenager branded innocent man a paedophile during savage attack
“I actually thought I was going to die that day.”
A teenager recorded himself carrying out a vicious attack on an army veteran who he wrongly accused of being a child sex offender.
Connor Cruikshank punched and kicked innocent victim David Taylor to the head and body while calling him “a beast” and “a paedophile” in an unprovoked assault in Port Seton, East Lothian.
Cruikshank, 19, used his phone to film the unwarranted attack on the 57-year-old victim and continued to assault him as he lay bleeding heavily on the ground on May 31 last year.
The violent teen has been warned he is now facing a jail term after a jury found him guilty of assault to injury and danger to life following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Wednesday October 21.
Mr Taylor, who suffered heavy bruising and a serious eye injury, told the court he believed he was “going to die that day” and was only saved when his wife stepped in to halt the attack.
He said he and his wife Valerie were out walking their dog when they were suddenly approached by Cruickshank at the village’s Fisher Road at around 3.45pm. He said the teenager lashed out and struck him to the face while shouting he was “a beast”.
Mr Taylor, from Port Seton, said: “He said it once and I got hit and I was quite dazed. I went down and hit the pavement.”
The victim said Cruikshank carried on punching and kicking him as he lay on the ground and suffered a serious cut to his eyelid that later required stitches when he was treated by medics.
He told the jury: “The person started laying into me and was standing on my head. My wife pushed him away and told him ‘I think you've done enough damage’.
“I thought is this the way I’m going to go? I actually thought I was going to die that day.”
Mr Taylor told the court a Good Samaritan stopped his car and took him to a nearby park where police and an ambulance were in attendance due to the village celebrating its gala day.
The court was shown photographs of the injuries suffered by the victim including the laceration to his eyelid and bruising to his head, body and leg.
Mr Taylor, who has previously served in the British Army, said the unprovoked attack has left him feeling “nervous about going out” and has “totally changed my behaviour”.
Valerie Taylor, 60, told the trial she and her husband had just bought an ice cream while out on their walk when Cruikshank approached them.
She said she witnessed the teenager punch and kick her husband while he recorded the attack on his mobile phone.
She said Cruikshank, also from Port Seton, was shouting her husband was “a paedophile” and the attack had left her spouse with “blood pouring from his eye”.
Cruikshank admitted punching Mr Taylor to the head and to using the despicable slurs, but said the couple were lying about him assaulting the man while he was on the ground.
Following the evidence, the jury failed to believe his version of events and returned a non-unanimous guilty verdict.
Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss told the teenager: “You have been convicted by this jury of a very serious charge of assault to danger of life.
“A custodial sentence is a serious consequence for you and I have to see if there is an alternative, so I am going to call for a criminal justice social work report.”
Sentence was deferred for the preparation of the report and bail was continued.