A pair of teenagers have appeared in court accused of battering a young Raith Rovers fan after a Fife derby in Dunfermline.
The pair – 16 and 17 and both from Fife – are accused of assaulting their victim to his injury at a bus stop near Halbeath Road, close to East End Park, on January 2 this year.
A 20-year-old man, Mackenzie King, from Oakley, faces the same charge but failed to appear in court and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
It is alleged all three males, while acting with others, assaulted the then-17-year-old Raith fan by repeatedly punching and kicking him on the head and body.
They are accused of seizing him and throwing him to the ground and repeatedly kicking and punching him on the head and body while he was on the ground.
The charge states they then seized him and kicked him on the body as he was attempting to leave.
Hearing aid destroyed
Prosecutor Laura McManus told Dunfermline Sheriff Court the allegation concerns an attack on a young person after a football match.
The fiscal depute said the complainer suffered injuries.
She said his hearing aid was destroyed and though this is not libelled, the Crown may yet wish to make an amendment to that effect.
The accused trio are also said to have behaved in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing, acting in an aggressive manner and repeatedly making offensive and derogatory remarks to their teenage victim at Dunfermline Queen Margaret train station, Whitefield Road, Halbeath Road and elsewhere.
The two teenagers, who cannot be identified because they are under 18, denied the charges.
Sheriff Susan Duff fixed a trial date for July 25 this year.
The sheriff released the teenagers on bail with a special condition forbidding them from attending any football matches in Scotland.
Incident roundly condemned
Footage of an incident after the match circulated on social media, appearing to show a male being assaulted.
Both clubs and players from the teams condemned the incident.
Raith keeper Kevin Dabrowski posted on X (formerly Twitter): “This is not what football is about, people like this ruin what football truly means.”
Dunfermline player Chris Hamilton also posted on the social media site, saying: “Not what our club’s about, disappointing to see. Hope the boy is okay.”
Fans roundly expressed their disapproval as well.
Title-chasing Raith won the derby match 2-1, their fourth victory in a row over their Fife rivals.
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