A man left a three-month-old boy alone on a bus for half an hour to go to the toilet then returned to care for the baby while high on drugs.
The man was travelling on a Megabus between Dundee and Perth when he left the baby for 30 minutes to go to the onboard toilet.
A court heard that the passenger then returned and tried to care for the child while under the influence of controlled drugs.
Police were called to arrest him when the bus arrived at the park and ride at Broxden, Perth.
One onlooker said fellow passengers had pulled the man up for his actions during the journey, with some becoming hostile towards him.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons but is not from the local area, admitted the offence at Perth Sheriff Court.
The eyewitness said: “It was disgraceful. This man was in charge of a child. A number of folk had a verbal go at him and the police were alerted.
“When the bus stopped in Perth, a fair contingent of police were present to arrest him.
“Imagine doing what he did while with a bairn. Some passengers were so angry I thought he might get lynched.”
The onlooker said that passengers had alerted the driver to the incident, who subsequently phoned the police.
Witnesses reported seeing the man with “a pile of luggage” as he was being dealt with by police. They claimed that the man was then allowed to continue his journey.
The man admitted that, on May 27 this year at a bus then on a journey between Dundee and Perth and thereafter at Perth park and ride bus station, Broxden, Perth, he wilfully neglected a child in a manner likely to cause the child unnecessary suffering or injury to health.
The charge stated that he did so by leaving the child for approximately 30 minutes while he attended the onboard toilet.
The court heard he thereafter attended to the care of the child while under the influence of controlled drugs.
The man’s actions were deemed to have rendered him unfit to provide proper care for the child. Sentence was deferred and the man was given bail.
Megabus declined to comment.