A RENTON man has pleaded guilty to attacking a rival in a pub before fleeing the scene and driving away drunk.

Gary McCallum, of Cordale Avenue, appeared at Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week over the March 13 incident.

The court heard a couple had entered the Titan Hungry Horse on Great Western Road, Clydebank, around midday and sat in a booth.

Around 12.40pm, McCallum walked in and the woman in the couple immediately approached him and attempted to prevent him from going any further.

But McCallum walked straight past her and approached the booth, depute fiscal Martina McGuigan told the court. There was a “verbal exchange of words between the accused and the man sat in the booth” and McCallum then lunged forward and punched the other man.

“Both males began to throw punches for a short period of time,” continued Ms McGuigan.

“During this, The booth table is tipped over and other patrons move away from where the disturbance is taking place. A witness escorts the accused out of the bar and see him continue to a parked car before driving out of the car park.”

Police were contacted and they arrived at the pub and viewed CCTV. Around 1.45pm the brother of the accused contacted police, having concerns for McCallum.

Officers found his address and found McCallum there around 2.45pm with a strong smell of alcohol coming from him.

He told them: “I have not drove that car today.”

Ms McGuigan added: “The other male has not been traced and nobody has come forward to report the incident.”

She also applied for an exclusion order to bar McCallum from the Titan.

Last week Dad-of-three McCallum pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, fighting with a man, causing a table to be upturned and placing patrons in a state of fear and alarm, while on bail.

He also admitted driving in Great Western Road, Regent Place and elsewhere while having 47mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, more than twice the legal limit.

Defence solicitor Judith Reid accepted her client, who works as a labourer, had a criminal record, but not one for drink driving.

She said: “He says [the alcohol] would have come entirely from the day before.

“[The victim] is a male he has had difficulties with for years. He didn’t go to in anticipating he would be there. They both gave as good as they got.

“It probably says something he didn’t come forward as a victim. Had he simply seen the man and left, none of this would have happened.”

Sheriff John Hamilton deferred sentence until October 12 for reports to be prepared, disqualified him from driving in the interim and deferred a decision on the exclusion order for the pub.