A Stonehaven man has avoided a prison sentence after he became so aggressive and angry over not being served in a bar that he stormed outside and smashed the windscreen of a passing car.
Kieran Taylor, 30, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards staff at Sharky’s Bar, Montrose.
It was stated that Taylor informed staff if they didn’t serve him more alcohol, he would “smash” the pub up.
As they continued to deny him, Taylor walked outside and into the middle of the road where he punched the windscreen of a passing car, breaking the glass.
Accused was ‘spoiling for a fight’
Fiscal depute Brooklyn Shaw told the court that at around 6.40pm, Taylor walked into Sharky’s Bar on George Street and he ordered a drink from a female member of staff.
The bar worker saw that Taylor was heavily intoxicated and refused to serve him, which caused him to immediately become aggressive.
“Get a man to say this to me,” he demanded.
Other members of staff then closed the hatch that led behind the bar due to how intimidating Taylor was being.
“They were alarmed by his behaviour and felt that he was spoiling for a fight,” Ms Shaw said, adding that Taylor then began “punching his clenched fist into his hand”.
He told staff: “Serve me or I’ll smash the f****** place up.”
Windscreen smashed
Staff thereafter asked Taylor to leave, but he repeated his request that a male member of staff be the one to make the request before leaving the pub in an extremely aggressive manner
At the same time, a man who just happened to be driving by Sharky’s Bar saw Taylor standing in the middle of the street.
As the driver tried to manoeuvre past, Taylor punched the vehicle’s windshield, causing it to break.
The driver was shocked and stopped the car, getting out to ask Taylor why he had struck his car.
The two men then struggled, with the driver having to wriggle out of his t-shirt and jumper to get away.
He ran into Sharky’s Bar to say he had been assaulted and the police were contacted.
The value of the damage to the car was £200.
In the dock, Taylor pleaded guilty to one charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and damaging property.
‘No excuse for it’
Defence solicitor Alex Burn told the court that his client “has some difficulty in explaining why he behaved in the manner he did”.
“No doubt it’s a consequence of his alcohol consumption, but he does have other underlying issues,” the solicitor said.
“Mr Taylor’s behaviour was completely unacceptable and he has shown remorse for what he did that night – he knows there is no excuse for it.”
It was stated that at a previous sentencing hearing, Taylor had been given a number of unpaid hours but had not carried these out to a satisfactory degree.
Sheriff Ian Wallace told him if he didn’t do the work “either you’re going to get more hours or you’re going to end up in jail”.
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Wallace made Taylor, of Low Wood Road, Stonehaven, subject to a community payback order with supervision for 12 months and ordered him to carry out 140 hours of unpaid work.
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