A SELKIRK man who broke a man's nose and knocked him unconscious in a street assault has avoided a custodial sentence at the town's sheriff court.

Thirty-four-year-old Garry Scott pleaded guilty to a charge of assault to injury by striking the man to the head and causing him to fall to the ground and lose consciousness.

The assault happened in Bank Street, Galashiels, on May 19, and the court heard how the victim was taken to Borders General Hospital to be treated for a broken nose.

Sheriff Kevin McCarron told Scott: "You viciously assaulted someone for no reason whatsoever. The consequences of your conduct for that person were pretty serous."

The sheriff added that Scott was fortunate he did not have a worse record of previous convictions stating: "Because if you did there would be no reason not to send you to custody."

Scott was ordered to stay in his home in Bridge Street, Selkirk, between the hours of 9pm and 6.30am as part of a restriction of liberty order for the next five months.