Teenager Detained for Brutal Attack

A drunken youth who left an Indian student with life-threatening injuries after he attacked him following Hogmanay celebrations was ordered to be detained for 30 months today. Marine engineer Azeem Mohammed suffered a brain injury after the brutal assault on him by teenager Daniel Taylor in a Glasgow street. A judge told Taylor at the High Court in Edinburgh: "You have pled guilty to an extremely serious attack on a young student. You kicked him in the head, face and body until he was unconscious." Lady Wise said: "It is only as a result of extreme good fortune that he has made a good physical recovery, but it is clear from information available to me that the psychological consequences on your victim continue." The judge said she accepted that Taylor (19) had shown "very genuine remorse" following the offence. She told him that he would have faced a three-year sentence but for his guilty plea. Taylor, of McCulloch Street, Glasgow, originally faced a charge of attempted murder, but his plea to a lesser offence of assaulting Mr Mohammed to his severe injury and to the danger of life on January 1 last year was earlier accepted. Mr Mohammed (23) who was studying at Glasgow Nautical College, was in hospital and at a brain injury centre until March 21 last year. Taylor's defence counsel Sarah Livingstone said he accepted that he "grossly over-reacted" and that at the time of the offence he had a drink problem and used illicit drugs. She said: "He tells me he was so shaken by this incident he gave up alcohol." Mr Mohammed and friends had spent the evening in Glasgow city centre celebrating Hogmanay and were heading home to a flat in Pollokshields. Taylor and Melissa McDonald, who was 16 at the time, had been drinking and she approached Mr Azeem and his friends and punched one of them, Gowthamkarthik Panneerselvam, during a confrontation. The court heard that Taylor became aggressive towards Mr Mohammed and punched him in the face knocking him to the ground at Maxwell Road. He kicked and stamped on his victim as he lay on the ground. A 999 call was made for police and an ambulance and Taylor and McDonald, now 18, walked away together leaving him lying on the road. Emergency services arrived to find unconscious and unresponsive with an obvious swelling to the right side of his head. The court heard that he had suffered life-threatening injuries but was given intensive medical care and his father flew to be at bedside from Chennai. The judge was told that the attack victim had greatly enjoyed his time in Glasgow and was a sociable and popular student. Despite the initial poor outlook for Mr Mohammed following the assault he made a recovery and was able to resume his studies. McDonald, of Melville Street, Glasgow, was given a community payback order and ordered to carry out 50 hours unpaid work after admitting assault and racially abusing a police officer.