A court heard town centre shoppers were left screaming in terror when a teenage driver threw a lit firework from his car.
Mr Williams said MacDiarmid had accepted his guilt from the outset.
“There was a certain level of immaturity involved and this court appearance has brought home to him just how silly he has been in relation to this incident,” the defence agent continued.
“He admitted his guilt when interviewed by the police and is somewhat embarrassed by what he has done.”
Sheriff Charles Macnair told MacDiarmid he was old enough to know better and warned him his behaviour was “totally unacceptable.”
“Some years ago small children were known to throw bangers around the streets and people perhaps accepted that round about that time of year,” he said.
“However, those days have long gone. Explosive of this type in the street are potentially very frightening. In any case you are far too big to be engaging in that kind of behaviour.”
MacDiarmid was fined £200 and ordered to pay that off at £25 per month.
The banger exploded on the carriageway in Cupar, just yards from a young mum and her two-year-old child.
Farmhand Colin MacDiarmid (18) admitted throwing the firework from his vehicle in Bonnygate on November 4 last year-the night before Guy Fawkes’ Day.
The teenager, of Annsmuir caravan site in Ladybank, said he did it because he “thought it would be funny,” but prosecutor Laura McLaughlin said the implications for passers-by were anything but.
“This occurred at around 6pm on a Thursday evening,” the depute fiscal told Cupar Sheriff Court.
“A witness was heading home from a local shop with her two-year-old daughter in a pushchair when she saw a car… being driven by the accused stopped at traffic lights ahead of her.
“She then saw an item being thrown from the vehicle and thereafter saw it explode on the opposite side of the road, outside some shop premises.”
Mrs McLaughlin said the accused was seen laughing after he threw the missile.
“The firework had been lit by the accused and then thrown from his open driver’s window,” the depute fiscal said. “After the noise of the explosion witnesses heard a scream which presumably came from someone who had taken fright, although it was not clear where the scream had come from.”
The young mother who witnessed the incident was so scared that she took an alternative route home.
“She was concerned about her safety and that of her child… and wanted to avoid any further upset,” Mrs McLaughlin noted.
The police were contacted and, when apprehended, MacDiarmid said, “Aye, it was not a firework, it was a fire cracker.
“I threw it and it landed on the other side of the road.”‘Funny’Asked why he did it, MacDiarmid replied, “I thought it would be funny.”
When police inquired whose idea it was, he said, “It was mine.”
Solicitor Douglas Williams insisted MacDiarmid was now ashamed of his actions and said the court appearance had acted as wake-up call for the “immature” offender.
“The banger actually fell short of the pavement…there was no traffic about and no pedestrians in the immediate vicinity,” he said. “However, Mr MacDiarmid accepts he demonstrated a clear lack of judgment.
“On reflection, he accepts a loud bang in the centre of town could cause alarm.”
Continued…