Men who slashed four strangers in Glasgow city centre knife attacks jailed

Two men guilty of “gratuitous violence” on four strangers in less than two hours have been jailed for a total of 14 and a half years.

Declan Fulton, 27, and Brandon Paterson, 22, attacked people late at night in Glasgow city centre last July.

One man was left with a facial wound for not having cigarettes to give them.

Paterson was subject to five different bail orders at the time of the crimes.

The pair were sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow having admitted their guilt at an earlier hearing.

Fulton was jailed for eight years and Paterson was locked up for six and a half years.

The men will also be supervised on their release – Paterson for four years and Paterson three and a half years.

Fulton already had a previous conviction for violence, weapons, disorder, theft and breaching court orders.

Paterson had flouted five separate bail orders – one for a drugs charge imposed just a week before these crimes.

Explaining these attacks, prosecutor Neil McCulloch told the court: “This case relates to four incidents which took place in Glasgow city centre between 11.20pm on July 8, 2024 and 1.30am on July 9.

“This was the assault of several people – who are not known to Fulton and Paterson – at various locations.”

The first victim was targeted while out walking his dog in Sauchiehall Street.

One of the men threatened to “slit [his] dog’s throat”.

The man initially questioned them before both claimed they were armed with blades and said: “Do you know who we are?”

Fulton initially slashed at the man and tried to stab him. The man said they were “cowards”.

The victim, while bleeding from a wound to his elbow, then followed the pair after they casually walked off.

He approached them in nearby Bath Street where Fulton stabbed him in the chest and Paterson threw a traffic cone at him.

The man needed hospital treatment including for a punctured lung.

Mr McCulloch said there was a “potential” threat to his life. He is also permanently scarred.

The next victim was set upon in a “seemingly unprovoked” attack on Buchanan Street about an hour later.

The man was punched by Fulton before Paterson joined in.

After an attempt was made to smack him with a glass bottle, Fulton then slashed the man twice with a black-handled blade across the face.

The victim needed 19 stitches for two wounds.

At around 1.20am, the third victim was walking with a friend on Dundas Street when the assailants asked for cigarettes. They did not have any to give.

Mr McCulloch said: “As a result, one of the pair began challenging [the victim] to fight before he approached from behind and slashed him to the right side of his face.”

This caused a disfiguring wound from the victim’s mouth across his cheek to his ear.

Fulton and Paterson fled the scene. After getting help from a nearby driver, the victim was taken to hospital.

The court heard, like the other men, he is also scarred for life.

The final victim was a Just Eat delivery driver attacked just minutes later.

He was struck on Sauchiehall Street, having initially given an associate of the pair some water.

Fulton went on to yank open the man’s Just Eat bag and demanded his phone.

Mr McCulloch said: “Fulton slashed him on the left hand causing it to bleed heavily.”

The victim also ended up in hospital having gone to a nearby hotel for help.

During an investigation to catch the attackers, Fulton was arrested later that day.

It was almost a fortnight before Paterson was traced in Glasgow city centre.

The pair admitted in court to being involved in three of the aggravated assaults with Fulton alone pleading guilty to attacking the driver.

Sentencing, Lord Mulholland ordered one of the men to “be respectful” by taking his hands out his pockets and stand up straight in the dock.