A MAN has been jailed for four years after a jury found him guilty of striking a man on the face with a knife and forcing a woman to fall from his first-floor flat window.

David Couch, 37, attacked Martin Smillie with the blade and also repeatedly punched and kicked him to the head and body during the incident in October last year.

Couch also assaulted Mr Smillie while was he was lying prone on the ground during a gathering at his home at Middleshot Square, Prestonpans.

Couch then turned his attention to Heather Archer by brandishing a knife at her and issuing threats to harm her.

He then attacked Ms Archer by striking her to the head with the knife, kicking her on the body and then forcing her to fall out of the window of his flat.

Ms Archer fell several feet to the ground and suffered serious injuries that a court was told would live with her for the rest of her life.

Couch denied all the allegations against him but was found guilty on indictment by a jury following a three-day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last week.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court

Edinburgh Sheriff Court

Following the verdict, Sheriff Derek O’Carroll sentenced Couch without deferring for background reports and jailed him for a total of 48 months last Wednesday.

Couch then returned to the dock at the same court the following day to be sentenced for carrying out a second serious attack in the town.

He had previously admitted to charges of assaulting disabled pensioner John Smith by striking him with a hammer at the man’s home on Preston Avenue.

The attacker robbed Mr Smith of a sum of cash and a quantity of jewellery during the incident on August 28, 2022.

Couch also admitted to shouting, swearing, making threats towards three police constables and spitting inside a police van at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh on September 8, 2022.

Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss said that he found it “appropriate” that a custodial sentence be imposed for the offences and described Mr Smith as being “vulnerable”.

The sheriff sentenced Couch to a total period of custody of 818 days but said that the jail term would run concurrently to the four-year sentence imposed the day before.