A TEENAGE thug who launched a horror blade attack on revellers at a school reunion, leaving one victim needing 19 stitches, has dodged being locked up.

The 16-year-old yob pounced on teenagers who had gathered at the River Inn, in Crosslee, as around 200 former pupils attended a celebration.

Violence erupted when the lout, who can’t be named because of his age, slashed 18-year-old Jordan Wotherspoon three times, leaving him scarred for life.

The thug had admitted his guilt at a previous Paisley Sheriff Court hearing and returned to the dock last week to learn his fate.

Sheriff Seith Ireland could have caged the youngster for up to five years over the slashing, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting Mr Wotherspoon to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement and of being in possession of a knife on March 30 last year.

But he opted not to lock him up and, instead, placed him on a three-year Community Payback Order that will see him being supervised by social workers for that length of time.

He must also pay Mr Wotherspoon £2,000 in compensation and complete 200 hours of unpaid work within a year.

As he spared the youngster a spell behind bars, Sheriff Ireland warned him he could yet be locked up over the case.

The judge told him: “If you don’t carry it out, you could well be breached and all sentencing options are then open to the court – and that includes a substantial period of custody.”

Procurator fiscal depute Keri Marshall previously told the court how a group of friends had left the function, involving former pupils from St Columba’s School, in Kilmacolm, to go to a chip shop a short distance away.

She said: “On the way back, they stopped at a bus stop to eat their chips. While within the bus stop, the accused approached them and started to talk to them.

“He told them he had been involved in an incident with some boys from Linwood and had a knife with him for self defence.”

When the group of friends returned to the pub, they noticed the 16-year-old had started talking to one of the 25 people milling around outside.

In the moments that followed, the knife thug stabbed Mr Wotherspoon on his right arm before fleeing into the pub’s disabled toilets, where he was later detained.

Miss Marshall said: “Mr Wotherspoon was taken by ambulance to the Royal Alexandra Hospital and received 19 stitches to three lacerations to his right arm.

“The view of the treating doctor is that it will result in permanent scarring.”

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