A passenger downed five litres of whisky and subjected a group of Chinese students to a torrent of racism on a bus between Dundee and St Andrews.
Five litres of whisky had fuelled Stephen Hardstaff’s vile remarks towards four people on the 99 Stagecoach bus service.
The 52-year-old has now been ordered to be of good behaviour while voluntarily seeking treatment for his alcohol addiction.
Hardstaff’s latest racially-aggravated crime comes after he was convicted of similar behaviour in 2021 when he unleashed a volley of abuse at a man while at a petrol station in St Andrews, before attacking police officers.
Racism on bus
In the latest incident, the group of University of St Andrews students were on the bus between 11.30pm and midnight when they were targeted by Hardstaff.
Prosecutor Kate Scarborough said: “While on the bus, the accused began making comments such as ‘f*** you guys, what f****** country are you from?’
“He referred to them as being ‘yellow’ and said ‘you’re not welcome in this country’.”
Hardstaff, of Bobby Jones Place in St Andrews, admitted repeatedly making racially-offensive remarks towards the students on December 17 last year
Defence solicitor Scott Norrie said Hardstaff described himself as an alcoholic and had been receiving treatment in recent times.
He told Sheriff George Way: “It’s fair to say that Mr Hardstaff has quite an acute alcohol addiction.
“To be fair to him, he has made some efforts to try and deal with that.
“At this particular time, he tells me he had drank five litres of whisky.”
Sentence was deferred until August for Hardstaff to be of good behaviour and to receive alcohol counselling.
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