A drug gang member who claimed to be in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) has been jailed over a violent attack in a Fife fishing village.

Edward Lindsay previously served a ten-year jail term for his part in what claimed to be a loyalist terror UVF cell operating a drugs ring in Edinburgh.

They used paramilitary-style violence including punishment beatings, abductions and murder threats to operate their syndicate.

Lindsay was convicted of his part in an abduction in which the victim was grabbed, hooded, bundled into a car and subjected to severe violence.

He was released in 2009 and set up home in the fishing village of Anstruther, Fife, taking up a job as a chef in St Andrews.

Then, last December, a pub row ended in friends of his calling on the Belfast-born criminal to mete out summary justice.

Jeffrey Fry had an altercation in a pub with Shane Pender. He went home and told Lee Johnston of the incident, who then summoned Lindsay and Scott Murray to go to Mr Pender's home in Anstruther.

Once there, the living room window was smashed with a brick before masked Lindsay and Murray started battering the door.

It was then opened and Shane Pender's father, Paul Pender, 43, dragged from the property and laid out by the pair. They then inflicted a brutal beating on Mr Pender Snr.

He told a jury at Dundee Sheriff Court the sustained attack only stopped when a witness claimed to have seen a meat cleaver in Lindsay's possession and said they were calling the police.

A charge that Lindsay was in possession of the knife was found not proven.

Mr Pender Snr, a Fife Council caretaker, said: "After that all four all of them jumped over the fence and were trying to apologise to me. It was actually my son they were after - not me.

"Shortly after that Lee Johnston came to my door and said he was apologising and wanted to sort it out. The police sirens could be heard in the distance and they just disappeared at that. I was shaken up.

"I had injuries to my head, chest, face and back - cuts and bruises mostly. I had to go on sleeping tablets because I couldn't get to sleep after that and I was off work for a month and a half."

Jeffrey Fry, 53, of Venus Place, Anstruther; Edward Lindsay, 36, of Mayview Avenue, Anstruther; Scott Murray, 40, of St Abbs Crescent, Pittenweem, and Lee Johnston, 28, of George Street, Cellardyke, denied assaulting Paul Pender.

Fry had his not guilty plea accepted at the close of the Crown case while Johnston was found not guilty by the jury.

After deliberating for just over an hour the jury of eight men and seven women found Lindsay and Murray guilty of the assault by a majority.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson then revealed: "Accused Lindsay had a number of previous High Court convictions including one from 2003 where he received ten years for convictions including an abduction."

Defence solicitor John Boyle, for Lindsay, said: "The court will be aware of how serious his record is and it is that previous conviction which will perhaps lead you to beleive custody is inevitable."

And David Duncan, for Murray, added: "He does not have a significant record - his convictions are at the lower end."

Sheriff Simon Collins QC jailed Lindsay for 18 months and Murray for 13 months.

He said: "Edward Lindsay, your record of offending is a serious one.

"The jury found you guilty of a serious assault and they accepted you did that with your face masked in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid identification.

"Scott Murray, I would be failing in my duty not to impose a custodial sentence on you as well."