A football fan caused a drunken disturbance on a train home to Perth after watching Scotland’s brutal 4-0 defeat against Belgium.
Mark Netherington shouted “I’m Scottish and I can sing what I want,” when he was told to quieten down by a train guard.
The 53-year-old was arrested by British Transport Police when he arrived at the Fair City station.
He appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive way, likely to cause fear or alarm, on the Perth-Glasgow service on September 9 2019.
His solicitor said he had been in “high spirits” after the match.
Sheriff Donald Ferguson said: “I think the issue here is the spirits he had consumed, rather than the spirits he was in.”
Shouting and swearing
Fiscal depute Andrew Harding told the court: “The complainer was on duty at Glasgow Queen Street Railway Station.
“She was working on the 2338 Glasgow to Perth service as a train guard.”
He said: “While she was on the platform, she observed the accused. He was drunk and singing a football song.
“To put things in context, Scotland had played Belgium at Hampden earlier in the day.”
Mr Harding continued: “The accused was asked to keep the noise down.”
Netherington replied: “I’m Scottish and I can sing what I want.”
The fiscal depute said: “After departure, the train guard could hear the accused shouting.
“He was told to quieten down or he would be asked to leave at the next stop.”
Netherington shouted back: “I’m not going to jump from the f***ing train.”
Couple was forced to move
Later in the journey, Netherington was heard shouting: “I want to make a complaint, but she’s f***ing ignoring us.”
Mr Harding said: “When the train arrived in Stirling, the guard contacted British Transport Police.
“Officers were sent to meet the guard at the train when it pulled in to Perth.”
The fiscal depute added: “During the journey, a couple had to be moved because of the stress they were feeling because of the ongoing disturbance.
“When police met the train at Perth, the accused was aggressive to them.
“He told them to ‘f*** off’ and said: ‘You can’t stop us.'”
Matters escalated
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, said: “This offence goes back to 2019, so we are coming up to the third anniversary.
“I am pleased to say Mr Netherington has no other cases outstanding.”
Ms Clark: “Mr Netherington acknowledges he was in high spirits when he arrived at the train station.”
She said that there had been an issue with her client’s ticket when he boarded the train, despite it being perfectly valid.
“A passenger had told him he should report the matter,” said Ms Clark.
“Matters simply escalated throughout the journey.”
She added: “Whatever high spirits he was in had disappeared by the time the police got involved.
“He accepts he should have simply stayed quiet when he was told to.”
Sheriff told Netherington: “This was totally inappropriate.
“Staff should not have to put up with this sort of abuse when they are trying to do their jobs.”
The sheriff questioned the length of time the matter had taken to resolve. “This is a very straightforward case,” he said. “I suppose Covid must have played its part in causing a delay.”
Netherington was fined £300.
