A CONVICTED killer attacked a 50-year-old man with his own walking stick after he complained about dog fouling, a court was told yesterday.

At the High Court in Glasgow 30-year-old Andrew Ralston admitted assaulting William Crichton to his severe injury in Larkhall, on December 18, 2011.

Ralston, of Larkhall, was originally charged with attempted murder, but the Crown accepted his plea to a reduced charge.

Advocate depute Iain McSporran, prosecuting, said: "It would appear there have been issues in the past regarding the accused's dog defecating in the complainer's garden and this appears to have been the catalyst for this incident."

The court heard that Mr Crichton became annoyed when he saw Ralston's dog fouling his garden and said he was tired of it happening.

Ralston shouted at his victim and then took the walking stick from Mr Crichton before attacking him with it. He repeatedly struck Mr Crichton on the head, limbs and body while shouting that he was going to kill him. A witnesses saw Mr Crichton lie prone on the ground and Ralston hit him at least 15 times with the walking stick.

Mr Crichton sustained four cuts to the top of his head, a fracture to his right forearm and bruising to his knees and wrists. He suffered pain and mobility problems for some time after the attack.

Ralston, who was convicted of culpable homicide in 2001 and served four years' detention, claimed that Mr Crichton hit him first with the stick and he disarmed him before attacking him with it.

Judge Lady Scott deferred sentence on Ralston, who is in custody, until later this month at the High Court in Edinburgh.

She said: "What concerns me is that here we have an offence which shows a lack of control."