Father who chased and tackled schoolboy over stone throwing in court

Court: MacDougall was fined at Perth Sheriff Court on Friday.© STV

A father who chased and tackled a schoolboy who hurled stones at his car has been fined £200.

Christopher MacDougall attacked the 14-year-old after his three children were scared by the rocks hitting the car windows.

The 34-year-old feared he was going to crash his car on a narrow bridge so stopped and chased the gang of youths on foot.

He caught up with the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, running across Aberfeldy Golf Course and grabbed him before pushing him over and assaulting him.

Despite being told MacDougall had punched and kicked the boy, Sheriff Robert McCreadie said it was "understandable" that he had reacted in the way he did.

At Perth Sheriff Court on Friday, Sheriff McCreadie said: "He became angry in a situation where anyone would become angry. What he is acknowledging is that a serious mistake was made in a situation that would anger any reasonable person.

"I accept you saw loutish and anti-social behaviour by a youngster of a kind we see all too often in society. Your anger was understandable in the circumstances where you had young children in your car and a window was open."

Fiscal depute Carol Whyte said MacDougall, who had three children aged two, three and ten in his car, was driving across Wades Bridge in Aberfeldy when his car came under attack.

She said: "The complainer picked up some small stones and threw them at the accused's car. They struck the rear of the car. The accused stopped his car and chased the complainer.

"He caught up with him on Aberfeldy Golf Course. He grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him on the ground and repeatedly punched him on the head and kicked him on the body."

The youth, who was later found to have a bump on his head and bruising, contacted the police and MacDougall was subsequently traced and arrested.

Solicitor Cliff Culley, defending, said: "He has no previous convictions and he has lost his good character as a result of this because he will now have a criminal record.

"There was no reason for the stones to be thrown. They hit the offside of the vehicle, where the rear window was open and a couple of the stones went in.

"He was very upset at what happened and stopped the car to run after the youth. He immediately realised after the incident that he had done wrong.

"In hindsight, if it happened again he wouldn't act that way. He should have contacted the police. He set a bad example to his own children. He should have dealt with it in a different way."

Mr Culley told the court it was unknown if the youth had also been charged in connection with his part in the incident in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, on April 22.

MacDougall, from Aberfeldy, admitted assaulting the boy.

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