A Leven man who pushed a 14-year-old boy through a shop window has been ordered to pay his victim £1,000 in compensation.
James Band, 40, was convicted of the offence last month after a trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Alastair Thornton said he found CCTV footage of the incident in Sea Road, Methil, “breathtaking and shocking”.
He said: “The violence and force used by the accused against the boy was disproportionate and excessive.”
The court previously heard Band suffered a cut to his head and the boy suffered a cut hand. Both required medical treatment.
When Band returned to court for sentencing on Tuesday, he was placed on a community payback order with a supervision requirement. He was told he would be subject to a six month restriction of liberty order and must carry out 250 hours of unpaid work.
Band, of McIntosh Crescent, maintained the push through the window had been accidental as he had been acting in self-defence.
He had denied repeatedly shoving the teenager, causing him to fall to the ground and hit a window, which smashed, at the M&A Mini Market in Methil on June 19 last year.
The footage played in court was filmed from two angles, one outside the shop and one inside, and showed how the incident unfolded.
A group of youngsters, including the victim, could be seen in front of a parked vehicle which was being driven by Band’s partner Amanda Keddie.
The youngster could be seen making a rude gesture towards Ms Keddie as she was about to pull away. She got out and challenged the boy.
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Band could then be seen pushing the 14-year-old over, knocking him to the ground and causing his head to hit the side of Ms Keddie’s vehicle.
“I pushed him harder than I meant to have pushed him,” Band acknowledged while giving evidence in court.
Friends of the boy were then seen trying to hold him back, before he punched Band three times.
Band then grabbed hold of the boy and pushed him forward.
He said he was trying to pin the youngster against a wall to stop him from throwing punches. However, the camera captured the moment the pair went through the shop window.
Asked by his solicitor Dewar Spence how he felt, Band said: “I was shocked – I got a fright.”
Depute fiscal Catherine Fraser suggested Band had ample opportunities to walk away from the incident, accusing him of letting his “ego get the better of him”.
Band responded: “If I had meant to put him through the window I wouldn’t have gone through the window at the same time and sustained an injury myself.”
