An Aberdeenshire man whose life has been made a misery by a gang of youths was arrested after reaching breaking point and punching one of the teenagers who had been hounding him for months.
Scott Gordon, who lives in Pitmedden, has had his car pelted with stones and is regularly intimidated by a gang of youngsters outside his home in Keithleigh Gardens.
The 35-year-old finally “snapped” on Wednesday night and punched a 16-year-old boy, who can not be named for legal reasons.
He was arrested in the early hours of Thursday and appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday.
The court heard that the child sparked the incident by making a rude hand gesture at Gordon “for no apparent reason”.
Fiscal depute, Rebecca Clark, said: “The accused shouted ‘come on then fat boy’ at the teenager, who then ran away.
“Gordon chased after him for a short period, but then gave up.”
The court heard that, an hour later, the boys were outside the village Co-op when the accused approached and asked “which one of them was it” before punching one teenager – leaving him with a small cut on his cheek.
The boy told his mum upon returning home, who called the police.
Defence solicitor, Liam McAllister, said the teenagers had been “trying to goad” Gordon “for some time”.
Mr McAllister added: “He accepts that he is too old to be getting involved, and has been able to show restraint for months.
“But he has not been in the best of minds, and has not been dealing with this situation well.
“He works in the oil and gas industry and had come off the back of a 12-hour shift on the day in question.
“There has been a fair degree of provocation from these teenagers, but these are police matters and he realises he should not have taken the law into his own hands.
“He found himself surrounded by a group of five or six 16 to 18-year-olds, all towering over him, and struck out as he felt intimidated.”
Sheriff Robert McDonald told Gordon that being on the receiving end of abuse did not excuse him from punching a youth and fined him £400.
