A jilted boyfriend who battered a love rival at a Brechin supermarket checkout has been ordered to make a four-figure compensation payment to his victim.
Soldier Sean Church marched into Brechin’s Lidl store last December after a mobile phone message of his ex with a fellow employee tipped him over the edge.
As the red mist descended, 23-year-old Church rained blows and kicks down on the shop’s assistant manager, forcing a shocked customer to step in and stop the attack at the till.
First offender Church, formerly of Brechin and now stationed at a barracks in Wiltshire, admitted the assault on Mark Smith at the Commerce Street premises on December 16 by punching and kicking him on the body to his injury, an offence which the court heard he had shown “genuine remorse” over.
Depute fiscal Stewart Duncan said that the accused’s girlfriend was an assistant at the store and the accused had received information that she had been cheating on him with the complainer.
“The accused went to the locus, confronted Mr Smith and acted as libelled,” said Mr Duncan.
When charged by police, Church told officers: “That was never my intention.”
Defence solicitor Brian Bell said that the day before the offence the girl had indicated to the accused that she would be going back to stay with her mother and Church became concerned after making several attempts to contact her.
“He then sent some texts to some of her friends and it would appear he was given information that obviously didn’t best please him and as a result went to the Lidl store in Brechin.
“He had never met the complainer before, but the person who provided him with the information also foolishly sent a picture of his girlfriend and Mr Smith.
“Mr Smith, unfortunately for him, was on the checkout at the time and the offence took place.”
Mr Bell said the charge had involved the “significant deletion” of an allegation that Church had kicked his victim in the head, a matter the accused had always denied.
“In the legal sense it was unprovoked and he accepts that there were members of the public present. The incident came to an end when one of the customers pulled Mr Church away.”
Mr Bell added: “There is genuine remorse, no previous convictions, no outstanding matters and it is out of character.
“He is genuinely embarrassed by this.”
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown imposed a £1000 compensation order on Church.
