Man faces 'lengthy sentence' over Borders crime spree

A man who admitted attacking strangers, threatening behaviour and fire-raising across the Scottish Borders has been warned he faces a "lengthy sentence".

Shane Donnelly, 27, committed the offences in St Boswells, Galashiels, Hawick and Selkirk in October and November last year.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how in one attack he left a stranger standing at a village bus stop with a fractured jaw.

Lady Ross adjourned sentence on Donnelly for a report on him and told him he would continue to be remanded in custody.

She said: "The fact that these are offences committed over a very short period of time and which involve very serious assaults on people, in a completely unprovoked way, gives me very serious cause for concern."

The court heard that he already had convictions in Scotland and England for crimes of violence, disorder and arson and was jailed for 15 months earlier this year.

Donnelly admitted assaulting one man to his severe injury and impairment in St Boswells on 4 October last year and assaulting two other men and robbing them in Galashiels six days later.

He also admitted wilfully setting fire to windows and a door at flats in Hawick on 8 October while acting along with another.

He further admitted behaving in a threatening way at a takeaway and nightclub in Galashiels on 4 October and a house in Selkirk on 6 November.

Donnelly also pleaded guilty to driving a van while disqualified on 7 October last year after he was seen at a petrol station, in Mart Street, Hawick.