A man threw a lit flare into a north-east pub following a row with Dons fans.
Kevin Taylor appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday and admitted endangering the safety of people inside the Beekies Neuk bar at Newmachar.
The court heard the 24-year-old had been out for the evening drinking with his friend when a group of Aberdeen Football Club fans entered the bar shortly midnight.
Fiscal depute Sandy Hutchison said: “The accused and another person were trying to cause some manner of chaos with the Aberdeen supporters.
“About 12.43am a witness became aware of an object being thrown into the locus. The object was smoking, and a patron inside the bar picked it up and put it into the fireplace.
“There were no injuries or damage caused as a result but it was a particularly dangerous situation I would suggest.”
The court heard CCTV footage from the scene showed Taylor standing outside the pub with another person.
He could then be seen approaching the back door before throwing the object into the building and running off.
Representing dad-of-two Taylor, solicitor Liam McAllister said: “To say that this was a stupid act is an understatement. He is culpable here, it was stupidity at its highest order.”
Mr McAllister said that he could provide no reasonable explanation as to why Taylor, of 64 Brebner Crescent, Aberdeen, acted in the way he did.
He said the incident on February 2 had turned from “friendly banter” to the flare being thrown.
The solicitor added that the flare had been passed to him from another person and he had taken it upon himself to throw it into the pub.
The court heard that since the incident Taylor had “matured significantly” and had turned his life around working hard for his girlfriend and two children.
Sheriff William Taylor said that it was “not for the court” to interfere with the good work he had done in bettering himself and said he was prepared to deal with him in a “more lenient” way than normal.
Taylor was fined £250 and ordered to pay £250 in compensation to the owners of the bar.