A private hire driver who attempted to assault a man with a “baseball bat” has been granted a new licence to work in the city.

Glasgow Live reported that Joseph Kinloch had a bid to renew his licence rejected last year - but has now been handed a new one despite an objection by Police Scotland.

Mr Kinloch told councillors he had attempted to attack his “sister’s tormentor” with a “baton” during an incident in September 2019.

He said he had recently received bad news about his mother’s health, which gives “an idea of the frame of mind I was in”.

Licensing chiefs voted four to two in favour of granting the applicant a restricted one-year licence. They also issued a “severe warning”.

Police Scotland had argued he was “not a fit and proper person” due to the incident where he “did assault a named witness and did repeatedly attempt to strike him with a baseball bat to the body”.

Cllr Alex Wilson, SNP, who chairs the licensing committee, said: “Ultimately you were convicted, there’s no doubt about that. You are saying you took the wrong advice from your solicitor and plead guilty.

“If I felt I wasn’t guilty of something, there is absolutely no way I would say I was guilty of anything. Regardless of what any lawyer tells me.”

Mr Kinloch replied: “In many ways I was still guilty as I did attempt to.”

Cllr Wilson said the incident had been “premeditated”. “You didn’t just happen to have that bat sitting beside you, you went into your boot, you removed the item, you still attempted to assault.”