TWO men have been jailed for an unprovoked street assault in Dunfermline which left the victim with a fractured eye socket.

A second man was then attacked with a piece of wood, as a night out ended in violence.

The assailants, Terry Comiskey and Paul Sheerin, who have both served previous terms behind bars, appeared together in the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

Comiskey, 21, of County Houses, Fordell; and Sheerin, 23, of Broomhead Drive, Dunfermline, admitted that on April 15, at Pilmuir Street, they assaulted Aidan Gutteridge by repeatedly punching him on the head and body, all to his severe injury.

Sheerin also admitted that in Pilmuir Street, he also assaulted Thomas Mackie by striking him on the head with a piece of wood to his injury.

Depute fiscal Alex Kirk said the two men who were attacked had been socialising in Dunfermline.

They had been in various bars and then went to Lourenzo’s nightclub where they had spoken briefly to Comiskey.

Later, the two friends left and got hot food from a takeaway shop. They saw Comiskey and his girlfriend, who was crying in the street and asked if she was okay.

Shortly afterwards, the two men were approached by Comiskey and Sheerin and two females.

Mr Gutteridge was attacked and punched between 15 and 20 times before running off. He returned to check if his friend was okay and saw Sheerin picking up a piece of wood which he used to strike Mr Mackie.

The depute said that Mr Gutteridge sustained a fractured eye socket and an ear injury. He suffered double vision for a five-week period.

Sheriff Charles MacNair said: “This was a sustained and vicious assault against a man whose only offence in your eyes was showing concern for a female who was upset.

“This was wholly unprovoked and was committed in the town centre late at night. Violence in areas such as that has a very nasty potential of spreading.”

Comiskey was jailed for 13-and-a-half months. Sheerin was jailed for the same period plus an additional 135 days for the attack with the wooden pole.