Student says he 'would have a pint' with Angus thug who left him with brain injury after Dundee Big Weekend
Conor Mockler returned to university as a disabled student after suffering a fractured skull and bleeding on his brain.
The 25-year-old and his friend were targeted by 'depraved' Keiran Rae in Lochee as they made their way home from the festival at Camperdown Park in May 2023.
Rae, also 25, has now been hit with a sentence totalling more than seven years for the 'utter cowardice and brutality' he displayed.
Speaking outside Dundee Sheriff Court after Rae was jailed, Mr Mockler said: 'It's justice, I suppose.
'I'm starting my master's degree in social work in September and the effects of the brain injury are still there but I'm hoping I can move on with my life now.'
A trial heard how Rae repeatedly punched Mr Mockler's flatmate – Fergus Higgins – who tried to protect their two female friends from potential violence.
Members of the jury gasped as chilling CCTV showed an animated Rae 'shadow boxing' before approaching the group and thumping Mr Mockler.
He fell flat on his back and struck his head off the road before paramedics swiftly descended on High Street.
Mr Mockler suffered a 3cm cut to the back of his head, a fractured skull and a subdural hematoma – blood collecting between the skull and surface of the brain.
Just minutes earlier, Rae broke a woman's jaw on Coupar Angus Road after she intervened in a dispute between the thug and his then-partner.
Rae, of Kirriemuir, Angus, was quickly found guilty of the attacks by the jury.
He later admitted trying to bite police officers in a separate incident in August 2023.
They had offered to take him home to his flat in Dundee after he was chucked out of a city centre venue for being too drunk.
Defence solicitor Anika Jethwa said trauma and binge drinking had been at the heart of Rae's violent offences.
She said: 'The main issue is alcohol but the extreme aggression that he has shown when alcohol is taken which is well beyond people being drunken and misbehaving.
'Clearly he is someone who cannot drink at all and needs more specialised intervention.
'There is only one option which is custody and Mr Rae appreciates that.'
Rae, who viewed proceedings via video link from HMP Perth, was handed an extended sentence by Sheriff Paul Brown totalling seven years and six months.
The custodial term is five years and six months with a two-year extension in the community.
Mr Mockler – who watched from the public gallery – had no memory of the assault and watched the CCTV for the first time when he gave evidence.
The jury heard about his exacerbated mental health issues, problems with fine motor skills like handwriting and how special measures were implemented at the University of Dundee in order for him to complete his psychology degree.
Despite the horror he endured, Mr Mockler, originally from Dublin, said he does not harbour a grudge against Rae.
The barista said: 'When I was watching and hearing about his trauma and alcohol problems I was thinking he should get a reduced sentence.
'Trauma comes out in aggression and I hope whatever happens to him in prison, it works out for him.
'I would sit down and have a pint with him. Everyone is deserving of a bit of humanity.
'Just because he didn't show it to me on that night doesn't mean he doesn't deserve it.
'He should be reprimanded but I definitely don't hold a grudge towards him.
'I wish him all the best.'
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