A youth football coach who drunkenly threatened to rape a toddler has been branded “disgusting”.
David Hunter made the horrific statement to a rival team’s coach after downing up to 20 pints of lager during a marathon drinking session.
He was told he could have faced up to six months in prison when he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court on Thursday for sentencing.
Sheriff Alastair Brown told the 26-year-old it was “difficult to find language strong enough” to express his disapproval.
“The threat you made when you made that phone call was foul, offensive and tasteless,” he said. “The fact you thought it was funny, even making allowances for your disgusting state of drunkenness, raises serious questions about your judgment and your values.
“You will gather that I think this was quite disgraceful and I imagine the public would think so, too.”
But he told Hunter, who has been suspended as an under-19 coach by the Scottish Youth Football Association, that he would not be placed on the sex offenders register.
During an earlier appearance, Sheriff Brown told Hunter: “The message you left was obscene. I can accept it probably wasn’t motivated by any sexual desire.
“It was probably generated to an extent by your consumption of two and a half gallons of beer.”
Solicitor Paul Ralph told the court his client was in the company of a player who had moved from his team to the club being run by his rival.
He said Hunter had used the player’s mobile phone to send messages to the other coach and claimed they started out as “a bit of banter.”
He continued: “Calls were made to try and get the other coach to arrange a fixture. I can’t say how many calls were made.
“It looks like he has left at least one message in bravado and thereafter has attempted what should have been a bit of banter. Then we end up with this terrible remark.”
Mr Ralph also revealed that Hunter has a four-year-old daughter, which he said made the remarks “even more inexplicable”.
He continued: “Asked by the police how much he had to drink, his answer was 15 to 20 pints if that’s correct, it is a Titanic amount.
“After making the remark he apologised to the phone’s owner and left, saying he had had enough. I don’t think the offence was in any way sexually motivated.”
Hunter, of Cairns Place, Perth, admitted making threats to the other coach’s son during calls of an indecent, obscene or menacing nature in the Capital Asset pub in Perth on February 16.
Sentencing him, Sheriff Brown said the matter could be dealt with by a substantial fine, adding: “In your case, I am satisfied that the appropriate fine is one of £900.”