A former Aberdeen bus driver who assaulted a colleague after an awards ceremony has been ordered to pay his victim £1,000.
Leon King labelled his colleague a “scab” before attacking him and leaving him needing a metal plate in his face.
The 35-year-old had received an award at the First Bus event on March 23 but attacked his colleague when they were on their way home.
He became violent when his victim tapped him on the shoulder to point out he’d left his award certificate in the private-hire bus they had been travelling in.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard there had been “difficulties” between the men since industrial action in 2018 when King, who no longer works for the company, had gone on strike and his victim did not.
King, of Marischal Court, Aberdeen, previously pled guilty to assault to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Lawyer Liam Mcallister said his client had shown a “significant degree of victim empathy”, adding: “He realised he had absolutely no right to act in the way he did.”
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He said King had been working in a “fairly toxic environment” but it was “not an excuse for his behaviour”.
Mr Mcallister said: “To an extent there was a degree of provocation, but to a limited extent.”
Sheriff Graeme Napier ordered King to pay his victim £1,000 in compensation and imposed a six-month restriction of liberty order.
Depute Fiscal Katy Begg previously told the court that at around midnight going into March 24 the complainer and his wife left the work function and made their way to the private-hire bus which King was also a passenger on.
King got out of his seat, leaving his award certificate.
Ms Begg said: “The complainer brought this to his attention by tapping him on the shoulder.
“The accused immediately turned around and became aggressive towards him, shouting ‘don’t you touch me, you scab’.
“The complainer was annoyed and followed the accused off the bus.
“However, he realised this was ill-advised and stopped, but the accused continued to shout at him.”
Ms Begg said the driver of the hire bus described King as “very drunk” and his victim as “merry drunk” and “attempting to calm the accused down”.
She added: “Without warning or provocation, the accused punched the complainer once to the face.
“He stumbled back and fell on the ground, where punches were thrown.”
The driver separated the men and King’s victim sustained a displaced fracture in his lower right eye socket and had to have surgery and a metal plate inserted.
Mr Mcallister previously told the court King resigned from his job following the incident.
A spokesman for First said: “I can confirm that, as of March 26 2019, Mr King is no longer employed by First Aberdeen.”
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