AN INNERLEITHEN man who carried out an assault in the town's High Street has been ordered to pay a total of £600.

Neil Cruikshank, 34, of Nether Horsbrugh Farm Cottages, pleaded guilty to repeatedly punching his 54-year-old victim to the head and causing him to fall to the ground.

Selkirk Sheriff Court heard the incident happened on the night of December 20.

The victim had four stitches inserted to a wound above his eye.

Defence lawyer Fiona Hamilton said the farm contractor was a genuine first offender.

She said he got involved in a dispute involving one of the other group having a new partner.

She said: "He picked a fight which was not his to pick."

First offender Cruikshank was fined £400 and ordered to pay his victim £200.