A dad who assaulted a strip club worker in Inverness has been told he will face no further punishment.
Ryan Hempkin punched an employee of the Private Eyes gentleman’s club in the face and tried to bite him when he was ejected from the venue in November of last year.
But a court was told how the father-of-two has quit drinking and engaged with mental health services since the incident, leading a sheriff to admonish and dismiss him.
This means he will face no further punishment.
Strip club worker assault admitted
Hempkin, 28, admitted charges of assault and threatening or abusive behaviour at Inverness Sheriff Court last year and was placed on a structured deferred sentence.
Fiscal depute Karen Poke told a sentencing hearing at the same court that it was shortly after midnight when the worker received instructions to eject Hempkin from the venue.
She said: “The witness was called inside the locus, which is Private Eyes in Academy Street, to remove the accused for making inappropriate comments to staff.”
There was a short conversation between the two before Hempkin punched him in the face. After this there was a struggle, causing them both to fall to the floor.
“During the struggle the accused attempted to bite [the witness’s] chest,” Ms Poke said.
Dad tried to bite officer
She said police were called. When they arrived, Hempkin turned his focus on them.
“As he was being escorted to the vehicle he made an attempt to bite the upper leg of [a police constable],” she added.
Solicitor Duncan Henderson, for Hempkin, said his client recognised his behaviour was “unacceptable”.
He said: “Has not drunk alcohol since December.”
After reading a report prepared by the criminal justice social work team, Sheriff Gary Aitken told Hempkin, of Murray Terrace, Inverness: “Given the terms of the report you will be admonished and dismissed.
“I trust that we will never see you back in a criminal court again.”
