Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Hand-licker put Fife Asda workers at ‘unacceptable risk’ during Covid pandemic

Liam McPhail.
Liam McPhail.

A man who licked his hands while loading items onto a supermarket conveyer belt during the Covid-19 pandemic was apparently taking revenge on the cashier.

Liam McPhail was irritated by the fact the Asda worker had asked his partner to respect coronavirus restrictions at the height of the crisis.

McPhail, from Burntisland, appeared in court this week – almost two years after his disgusting act – charged with acting recklessly in the supermarket.

A sheriff noted the incident happened at a time when there was little treatment for the deadly virus.

‘Full licks of his hands’

Fiscal depute Catherine Stevenson told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court the worker was not aware of what the 26-year-old was doing.

She said: “At about 5pm the accused was standing at a checkout with someone else.

“The accused lifted items from the trolley onto the belt, while the other person went to the bottom of the checkout and began to pack.

“The person packing licked her fingers to take a bag and was asked not to do so due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“Upon hearing this, the accused then began taking full licks of his hands while continuing placing items from the trolley onto the belt.

“The accused licked his fingers several times, apparently mocking the checkout operator.

“She continued scanning the items, seemingly unaware.”

‘Childish’

The court heard, on leaving the checkout, McPhail and his partner were challenged by other staff members, causing him to swear.

The incident happened at the Asda in Kirkcaldy.

McPhail’s defence agent said his actions were a “childish” response to his partner being told to stop licking her fingers.

He said: “His partner had done what a lot of people do and licked her fingers to pick up a carrier bag.

“The staff member became quite animated.

“His partner was also challenged as to why she was in the supermarket – she has an English accent and it was thought she may have travelled from down south.

“It’s certainly a childish incident on his part.

“His position is they approached him in quite a confrontational manner.

“He understands this was at the height of the pandemic, when there was no vaccine.”

Put key worker at ‘unacceptable risk’

McPhail, of Abbots View, admitted behaving in a culpable and reckless manner at the Asda store on Kirkcaldy’s Carberry Road on January 26 2021

Supermarket staff were key workers during the pandemic. Image: Shutterstock.

Sheriff Paul Reid said the offence would have been treated more seriously had it come to court at the time.

He said: “At the time this offence was committed there were people incarcerated for deliberately risking key workers.

“At the time, a more serious view would have been taken.

“I think we all struggle to remember how bad it was.

“You might have thought it amusing or not particularly serious in January 2021 but it’s quite the reverse.

“It put a key worker at unacceptable risk at a time when treatment was not available.”

He ordered McPhail to carry out 30 hours of unpaid work.

For the latest court cases across Tayside and Fife, join our Courts Facebook page.