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A man who was due to go to jail for punching and kicking a blind man has had his sentence replaced with a suspended term following an appeal.

Roy Gilmour was caught on camera as he attacked the 63-year-old victim in Ballymena, County Antrim, in 2021.

Gilmour, of Tullymore Park, Ballymena, was previously given a three-month jail term for assault.

But on Tuesday, a judge replaced that with a six-week sentence, suspended for a year.

The Antrim County Court judge said Gilmour had acted "completely out of character" on the day of the incident and was unlikely to reoffend.

The court was also told that the victim of the assault "was upset" that his attacker had received a custodial sentence last month.

Gilmour had been taking his severely-disabled, visually-impaired son to visit Santa Claus on 25 November 2021 when they crossed paths with the blind man on Wellington Street.

The victim has less than 15% vision, is registered blind and uses a rollator as a walking aid.

'Mercy'

Gilmour collided with the man's rollator and reacted angrily, punching the victim in the face three times.

The blind man was knocked down by the blows and while he was lying injured on the ground, Gilmour proceeded to kick him - footage of which was filmed by a passer-by on a mobile phone.

At the appeal hearing, a defence barrister described Gilmour as a 61-year-old married man with a clear record, who was medically retired and had a disabled son who requires 24-hour care.

The judge told Gilmour that until he had read various medical reports about his disabled son, he "didn't understand quite why you reacted in the way that you did".

"Of course, what you did was wrong and you will be sentenced for it, but I have a much better understanding for the context behind it," the judge added.

He said that it would be inhumane to jail Gilmour and told the court "justice must always be tempered with mercy" as he imposed the suspended sentence.