A restaurateur has been ordered to pay compensation to a man he attacked and a woman he shoved when they visited his cafe after a funeral.
Former bouncer Martin Tippett hit Mark Forrester on the head and body after he quizzed the cafe owner about his treatment of an elderly lady.
Tippett was also found guilty of shoving 64-year-old Karen Forrester in the Pit Stop after a dispute over a post-funeral cup of coffee.
The 48-year-old part-time wedding planner has been ordered to pay Mr Forrester £650 compensation and Mrs Forrester £250 compensation.
In 2020, Tippett was owner of 172 at the Caird on Nethergate when he tried to make his employees work while claiming furlough payments.
Post-funeral bust-up
A trial at Dundee Sheriff Court was told the Forresters were among a group of mourners who attended the Dundee cafe after a funeral which had taken place nearby.
Takeaway drinks were ordered but Tippett became angry with an elderly woman who sat down at a table with hers as she waited for someone to use the toilet.
The court was told he badgered the woman to leave the seating area because she had a takeaway drink and Mr Forrester stepped in to question his behaviour.
Mr Forrester said the accused then asked him to step outside to discuss the situation and immediately subjected him to a violent assault.
Tippett, of Baldovie Terrace, Dundee, was found guilty of assaulting Mr Forrester in the Pit Stop Cafe by punching him on the head and body to his injury.
He was also found guilty of culpably and recklessly pushing Karen Forrester in the cafe on January 26 2023.
Tippett claimed he acted in self-defence but was not believed by Sheriff Paul Brown.
Covid payment controversy
Tippett previously made headlines for forcing his staff to work when they were on Government-financed furlough during the Covid pandemic lockdown.
He broke the rules by telling them that they should work 80% of their weekly hours because they were receiving 80% of their pay from the Government.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme rules stated in order to receive the government funding, staff should stop working.
Tippett, owner of 172 At The Caird bar and restaurant on the Nethergate in Dundee, asked staff to sign a contract committing them to “suitable alternative work”.
Chef Steven White – who worked for Tippett for two weeks – said he left the business after discovering what had happened.
Speaking in 2020, he said: “I heard from the other kitchen staff they had been asked to work while they were furloughed.
“If he was treating his staff like that then I didn’t want to help him.”
Another former employee was awarded more than £8,000 in compensation after she was “unfairly dismissed” while on furlough.
Kitchen assistant Maria Reina Lopez said she had been threated with the sack if she refused to work.
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