An Angus takeaway worker who hit an unwelcome customer over the head with a pizza shovel has been admonished at court.
Sheriff Gregor Murray made it clear to 64-year-old Dalgit Din that he in no way approved of what she had done, but acknowledged she had been provoked.
She had previously admitted assaulting Deborah Williamson at Spice of Life, Mayfield Terrace, Arbroath, on December 27 2013 by hitting her on the head with a pizza shovel and injuring her.
Sentence had been deferred on Din for six months to allow her to be of good behaviour. When she appeared at Forfar on Thursday, Sheriff Murray learned that she had indeed behaved.
He told her: “I don’t condone what you did at the time but I accept, to a large extent, that you were sorely tested before this took place. I admonish you in the circumstances.”
In August the court heard Din, whose address was given as Arbroath Road in Dundee, had “snapped” when a woman refused to leave the takeaway restaurant after being told she was banned. She grabbed the pizza shovel and swung it at the woman before phoning the police.
The victim’s boyfriend captured most of the incident on his mobile phone, the footage played in court. The victim suffered a “minor” injury with some bleeding.
In Din’s defence, the court was told the woman had been a nuisance in the shop before and was not welcome. After Din hit the woman, there had been further aggravation during the 15 minutes and more it took the police to attend.
Din’s solicitor, Ian Flynn, had told the court the male customer had been charged with smashing the takeaway’s door. He added that the man and his girlfriend had not complained about the incident because they wanted nothing to do with the police.
A partial video of the altercation surfaced on Youtube before the case ever reached court and additional footage was played to Sheriff Murray in August.
During a section of unseen video, Din phoned the police and shouted: “I’ve got a junkie in my shop”, after the assault.
Mr Flynn pointed out: “There has been a distinct provocation from a much younger, much bigger woman.”
Sheriff Murray accepted at the time that the accused had been subjected to considerable provocation, but noted that Din was the one who had snapped.