A drunken railway passenger must compensate the total stranger he attacked “without warning” on a train between Stirling and Perth.
Kenneth Ingber was sentenced after admitting his aggressive conduct aboard a service earlier this summer.
His solicitor explained Ingber’s anti-alcohol implant had not been functioning and the boozy passenger had reacted badly to some name-calling.
Ingberg, who was jailed for violence almost two decades ago, was sentenced to supervision and unpaid work and must compensate his victim.
Assaulted ‘without warning’
Fiscal depute Lindsay Brooks explained witnesses boarded the train from Stirling to Perth on the evening of June 11 this year.
She said: “While witnesses were on the train, the accused approached them and asked: ‘Is this f***ing Stirling?’ in an aggressive way.
“The accused was pacing up and down the aisle.”
Ingber approached a passenger and stated, “I will f***ing kill you”, before unleashing more profanity and abuse.
Ms Brooks added: “Without warning, the accused punched a witness on the head.
“This caused his head to bleed.
“The attack continued for a few more moments, scratching the witness on the face.”
Staff arrived and the 51-year-old victim alighted the train at Perth, suffering from cuts and bruises as well as a lump on his head, while Ingber stayed on until Inverness.
Victim’s compensation
Earlier in proceedings, Ingber, 44, from Doncaster, wrote into Stirling Sheriff Court pleading guilty to threatening or abusive behaviour and assault on June 11 this year.
On Wednesday, he appeared personally in the dock to be sentenced by Sheriff Keith O’Mahoney, who placed him on 18 months of supervision and imposed 120 hours of unpaid work as a direct alternative to imprisonment.
Sheriff O’Mahoney also ordered Ingber to pay £500 compensation and said: “I hope not to see you in this court again.”
Ingber’s solicitor Frazer McCready said his client had a problem with alcohol in the past and was fitted at a clinic in Ireland with an anti-alcohol implant, which has recently stopped working.
“He had been working, he was travelling after some time off, he was very tired and was catching a number of trains.
“He said he consumed alcohol. There was an incident on the train where there was a bit of name-calling.
“He accepts that he lashed out and struck the complainer – his position is he slapped him.
“I accept that this is a nasty incident that those travelling on public transport should not have to put up with.
“Custody would be disastrous for this accused.”
In 2002, Ingber was convicted of drunk and disorderly conduct and four years later received a seven-month prison sentence for violence.
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