A convicted sex offender chased down and battered two women in a Perthshire shop after he overheard one of them say: “There are perverts everywhere.”
William Bannigan dragged one of his victims to the ground by her hair as she and her friend tried to escape through the locked storeroom of a Scotmid store in Rattray, near Blairgowrie.
The 49-year-old, who was jailed for five months and placed on the Sex Offenders Register in 2012, was allowed to walk free from court despite pleading guilty to two charges of assault.
Sheriff Neil Bowie told Bannigan, of Hatton Place, Rattray, he had avoided a custodial sentence because he had managed to stay out of trouble for several years.
He was instead ordered to carry out the maximum 300 hours of unpaid work.
Flurry of punches
Fiscal depute Andrew Harding told the court friends Denise O’Brien, 39, and Jodie Jackson, 22, were walking to an ATM at the Hatton Road Scotmid store at around 6pm on June 30, last year.
“The accused was walking on the other side of the road.
“The women were talking about a person in the area and the term ‘pervert’ was used.
“The accused overhead and he stopped and stared the witnesses.
“He did walk on a short while and then turned back and ran towards them.
“They ran into the shop and went to the storeroom door.
“They were trying to get in by pressing the key code buttons.”
Bannigan launched a “flurry of punches,” said Mr Harding.
“He punched both of them in the face and body.
“He took hold of Miss Jackson’s hair and pulled her to the ground.
“The accused then left the store and a member of staff phoned the police.”
‘Perverts, everywhere’
Ms O’Brien suffered a cut lip and Ms Jackson was left with a bump on her forehead, the court heard.
Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said his client was minding his own business when he heard one of the women say “there are perverts everywhere,” before she turned to Bannigan and said: “What are you looking at?”
Mr Holmes told the court Bannigan had launched an unsuccessful appeal against his 2012 conviction.
“The consequence of this conviction was that he has been subject to a significant level of provocation by way of things said against him.
“In this case, there were only three of them on the street and it was quite obvious he was able to hear their conversation, where they used the word pervert.”
Echoes of previous conviction
Sheriff Bowie told Bannigan: “Even if you felt you were being spoken about, you cannot assault people in this way.
“The only question for me is whether to send you to custody or not.
“I am just persuaded, notwithstanding your prior conduct, to sentence you to the maximum number of hours of unpaid work.”
Bannigan’s latest conviction has echoes of a previous case from 2016, in which he slapped a woman on the head after he claimed she had directed an “upsetting remark” towards him.
He assaulted Rebecca McDonald after stopping to ask her why she had addressed him in that way.
After attacking her, leaving her with reddening to her eye, he cycled away.
