A Fife oil and gas worker lost his temper after another driver gave him the middle finger during an overtake on the A92.
Jamie Moffat, 41, got out of his car in front of the other vehicle near West Kirkcaldy Roundabout and walked aggressively towards it before the motorist drove off.
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard, according to Moffat, “one or two” others have “flipped him the bird” since he bought a Range Rover-type vehicle.
Moffat, of Kirkcaldy, was pleading guilty to an amended charge of committing a breach of the peace on October 3 last year.
He had originally faced an allegation of dangerous driving.
Prosecutor Brogan Moffat told the court it was around 1pm when the other male driver saw Moffat travelling in the outside lane.
The accused moved his vehicle into the inside lane in front of the other car and stopped in the middle of the carriageway, left the vehicle and walked towards the other car vehicle in an aggressive manner, the fiscal said.
The other driver then reversed and drove off.
Defence lawyer David Cranston said Moffat had been in Dunfermline shopping and was returning home on the A92 when he overtook the other car.
Mr Cranston said: “As he passed the vehicle, the driver flicked him the middle finger and gesticulated in a way internationally acknowledged to be offensive.
“Mr Moffat was somewhat taken aback by that and pulled into the slow lane and the car passed him”.
The lawyer said Moffat travelled behind the other vehicle and was “fizzing and upset” about what happened, eventually stopping in front with the “intention of remonstrating”.
The lawyer said Moffat told him “one or two other people have flipped him the bird” since he bought the vehicle.
Mr Cranston said Moffat has worked in the oil and gas industry since he left school and is in the middle of a four-year contract working in Iraq.
Sheriff Steven Borthwick fined Moffat £200, reduced from £300 due to his early guilty plea.
Jamborette assault
A volunteer at a major international scouting event has been placed on the sex offenders register for repeated attacks on a fellow adult supervisor. Jack MacLean laughed in his victim’s face after groping her at a pub during the 2024 Blair Atholl Jamborette, then turned up at her tent uninvited and started stroking her leg.
Bit child
A Glenrothes man left his four-year-old victim bruised after biting him to teach him a lesson.
Shaun Blair appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to be sentenced after admitting the assault in November 2024.
Prosecutor Catherine Stevenson explained a member of staff at the boy’s school was made aware of the attack and resulting thigh injury.
“He’s disclosed to her that he has ben bitten by the accused and had a bruise as a result,” Ms Stevenson said.
The disclosure was reported to social work and Blair, 32, was interviewed.
Ms Stevenson said: “During the inquiry, a phone call was made to the accused.
“During this call, the accused admitted that he was responsible but didn’t mean to harm him as much as he did.”
The accused went on to say the boy had bitten his little brother and he “wanted to teach him a lesson and let him know what it felt like.”
His solicitor Martin McGuire said: “It’s quite an unfortunate incident and Mr Blair regrets it.”
Sheriff Mark Allan placed Blair under supervision for six months and ordered him to complete 100 hours of unpaid work in that time.
Knuckle duster assault
A 60-year-old man convicted of a “sustained” attack on his ex-wife’s partner with a knuckle duster in Dundee has been sentenced. Brian Thoresen also bit the man on the head during the vicious assault.
Stole from sex worker
A Fife man who stole hundreds of pounds from a sex worker has been told to do 180 hours of unpaid work and pay his victim £500 in compensation.
Daniel McNeil, 20, had been boozing at a friend’s house in Methil and paid for an Uber to bring the escort to the address.
After sexual contact took place, McNeil became “unhappy” and took money – estimated to be around £500 or £600 – from the woman’s handbag before she left in a “distressed state”.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard previously the woman’s phone was damaged during the incident and she needed a replacement.
She went to the home of a neighbour unknown to her and police were contacted.
McNeil, of Castle Crescent, Kennoway, earlier pled guilty to removing a handbag from the woman and stealing money from her at an address in Methil on November 6 2023.
It had previously been alleged McNeil assaulted the woman, including brandishing an axe at her but prosecutors accepted the deletions in the charge.
Speaking in mitigation this week, defence lawyer David McLaughlin said his client described having feelings of shame and disgust about the incident.
Mr McLaughlin pointed out McNeil was 18 at the time and had lost his job and partner.
Sentencing, Sheriff Susan Duff said: “You are right to feel ashamed of your behaviour.
“This was a very frightening experience for a vulnerable young woman whose phone was damaged, leaving her having to run to the home of a stranger for help.
“She was extremely distressed by your conduct”.
£6.5m cannabis farm
A man who paid £20,000 to come illegally to Britain became a key player in a £6.5 million cannabis farm brazenly located on busy Kirkcaldy High Street. Petrit Gjuraj,24, was arrested after police caught him at a former branch of WH Smith in Kirkcaldy in 2022.
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