A ScotRail worker assaulted a 15-year-old girl while he was on duty at a Fife train station.
Charles Algeo, 52, punched the girl to the back of the head as she lay face down on the ground at Inverkeithing railway station.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard the girl was left with concussion and a chipped tooth following the assault in May this year.
The court was told the rail worker had responded to his victim “kicking out” at him first.
Pulled girl to ground
Procurator fiscal depute Amy Robertson said the girl and two friends had been walking over a bridge at the train station when Algeo walked past and knocked into one of their shoulders.
The fiscal depute said: “(The girl) turned to confront the accused, saying ‘f***ing try it, e’ and the accused drew (her) attention to a body-worn camera.
“The accused turned to walk away and (the girl) followed him, kicking out towards him with her lower leg.
“The accused thereafter turned towards her and pulled her to the ground.
“He hit her to the back of her head with his fist while she was face down on the ground.
“She attempted to get up, however she was once again pushed to the ground, hitting her jaw on the floor.”
Sentence deferred
Ms Robertson said the girl’s friends – also aged 15 – tried to free her from Algeo’s assault and began shouting at him to get off her.
Following the attack, all three teenage girls stayed at the station to get help from another member of the public and staff and police were contacted.
Ms Robertson told the court Algeo, of Rosyth‘s Castlandhill Road, was on duty in his capacity as “ScotRail station staff” at the time of the assault.
The fiscal depute also referred to medical evidence which stated the girl was left with a cut to her head and a concussion.
Ms Robertson added: “She suffered from a chipped tooth, not visible to the eye, but advises she can feel it with her tongue.
“It’s not professionally assessed by a dentist”.
Algeo pled guilty to the May 16 assault at Inverkeithing railway station.
Sheriff Wyllie Robertson deferred sentencing until December 21 for the production of background reports.
