The victim of a Cumbernauld gangland shooting, which injured an innocent bystander and killed her dog, has admitted to attacking his former girlfriend during a drunken Hogmanay row.
McDermott, 30, was on trial accused of breaking mum of four Fraser's ankle, smashing her cheekbone and striking her on the head with a knife handle. But, after she claimed to be suffering "severe memory loss", the Crown accepted McDermott's guilty plea to one assault involving striking her on the head with his hand.
Fraser, a student nurse, was treated in hospital but told staff she sustained the ankle injury falling downstairs. In her police statement she also claimed that McDermott elbowed her on the face, fracturing her cheekbone. After McDermott's guilty plea to the reduced charge, Sheriff Joseph Hughes deferred sentence until next month for background reports. McDermott has a criminal record that his solicitor conceded is "bad".
After giving evidence from behind a screen during the trial, she appeared in the dock. During her evidence, Sheriff Joseph Hughes had told her to remove gum from her mouth.