Edinburgh student admits assault on bridge fall victim

A 21-year-old Edinburgh man as admitted assaulting a student from Northern Ireland shortly before he plunged to his death from a bridge later the same evening.

Liam Armstrong, 21, from Edinburgh, admitted assaulting sports science student, Andrew Couser, from Donaghadee, last November, just hours before the 21-year-old Co Down man fell 30ft from a bridge after a night out.

Mr Couser, who was studying at university in Edinburgh, was discovered with serious head injuries on Western Approach Road and taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where he later died.

Today's court heard that Armstrong, a media studies student at Queen Margaret College, had been out celebrating his 21st birthday on the night in question.

Mr Couser, who was studying at Napier University, was part of a separate group which was celebrating a friend's 21st birthday.

The two groups met outside the Oven Fresh bakery in Morrison Street at about 3am, where an argument broke out and pies were thrown.

The subsequent trouble resulted in Armstrong repeatedly punching Mr Crouser on the head, knocking him to the ground and kicking him "very forcibly" on the head.

Sheriff Gordon Liddle told Armstrong that a custodial sentence was uppermost in his mind.

However, he said he accepted that the evidence and a post-mortem examination had shown there was no link between the assault and Mr Couser's death.

(MB/SP)