Football coach who broke man's jaw in street attack jailed

Grant Gay broke Lawrence Wallace’s jaw after hitting him with a single punch in an attack in Tolbooth Street, Kirkcaldy on March 20, 2015.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Gay and his wife Ashley had been at the Wheatsheaf Bar drinking cider and trying to raise cash for his soccer team, Kingdom Athletic.

The couple left and went home but Gay said he was going back to the pub after leaving a score sheet there. Mrs Gay told the court that she told her husband that she thought she had seen Mr Wallace make a rude hand gesture.

The court heard that Gay then caught up with Mr Wallace and punched him. The attack was captured on CCTV camera and paramedics were called.

When medical staff arrived, they found that Mr Wallace had fractured his jaw and had suffered a cardiac arrest. He later died in hospital.

The court also heard that Mr Wallace had significant health issues which could have resulted in him collapsing and dying.

Gay, of Kirkcaldy, originally stood trial in March 2017 at the High Court in Edinburgh on a culpable homicide charge.

Jurors acquitted him on the charge of killing Mr Wallace but convicted him on a charge of assaulting the man to his severe injury.

On Friday, judge John Morris QC told Gay that a prison sentence was the only disposal available to him.