A grandfather who drove at two youths and knocked them off an electric scooter has been fined £1,600.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Alan Nelson, 53, and his disabled wife had been terrorised by the youths for years prior to the incident in January.
Their home on Grampian Gardens had been egged, targeted with stones and had a golf flag shoved through the letterbox.
Depot manager Nelson admitted driving his car at the two boys, causing them to fall off an electric scooter and onto the ground.
The court was told how there had been no provocation from the boys immediately before Nelson drove at them.
However, while solicitor Ross Bennett said Nelson accepted his responsibility, he explained to Sheriff John Rafferty there was “significant” mitigation.
He said: “He had made numerous reports to the police about this.
“His wife had tried to take photos of the boys but the police told her that was an offence, which alarmed her.
“They have now moved to a different address in Dundee.
“This affected my client to the extent that his employers put in a system of counselling as he was so uptight about what he was coming home to every night.
“He accepts he went beyond the pale here, quite considerably and he regrets that very much.
“It was a one-off situation.”
‘Excellent’ reference from employer
One of the boys suffered bruising to his right eye, while the other had bruising to his left shin.
Nelson pled guilty to driving towards the youths on January 27 on Longhaugh Road, colliding with the scooter, causing one boy to fall on the ground and under the front of his car.
The other victim also fell to the ground after being knocked off the scooter.
Mr Bennett presented a reference from Nelson’s employers, which Sheriff Rafferty remarked was “excellent”.
He urged the sheriff not to imprison Nelson but instead, impose a financial penalty.
Sheriff Rafferty voiced his concern about Nelson’s conduct prior to handing him a £1,600 fine.
“You are someone of good character, you are 53-years-old, you have an excellent reference and a stable family.
“However, there was nothing that happened at the time of this incident which caused provocation and what you did was assault these people in a very serious way by using your motor car and these people suffered injury.
“The normal sentence for conduct of this nature, if mitigation was not in place, would be a custodial sentence.
“I fully accept in this case a custodial sentence is not appropriate because there is a community-based alternative.”
