A fracas broke out at an Inverness Post Office when a woman sparked alarm by entering without wearing a face mask.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard today that 52-year-old Fiona Hardie of Maclennan Gardens, Inverness, had been drinking before going in to the Queensgate building to pay for her electricity.
Fiscal depute David Morton told Sheriff Sara Matheson that the man in front of her took issue with her not wearing a protective mask on Thursday.
Mr Morton said: “She began acting aggressively, he pushed her, she reacted and a struggle ensued.”
Defence solicitor Rory Gowans said: “It is accepted that there was an element of provocation here. Things got mildly physical.”
Hardie, who admitted threatening behaviour, was ordered to pay her victim £200 in compensation.
Face mask law came into force last summer
The use of face masks in shops became mandatory in Scotland on July 10 last year.
Nicola Sturgeon announced the move shortly after retail reopened at the end of June following the first Covid lockdown.
She said the step had been taken because the easing of lockdown restrictions meant that people were going out more.
“That brings much greater risk of the virus spreading,” she warned.
Man convicted in Aberdeen for not wearing mask
A man appeared in court and admitted breaching Covid regulations by not wearing a mask – in what is understood to have been the first conviction of its kind in Aberdeen in January.
David Patterson admitted breaching a requirement to wear a face-covering within Aberdeen Railway Station.
When could mask rules be relaxed?
According to the Scottish Government’s website, “in all levels and settings”, people should follow “advice and requirements such as on the use of face coverings”.
When she outlined Scotland’s route map out of the pandemic last month, the first minister said that it is “hoped” that we could reach “at least Level 0” by the end of June.
That still includes the use of masks in shops, unless people are exempt for health reasons.
It is not yet known when mandatory mask rules may be lifted.
