Police officers attending a protest in a Fife town were attacked by flying missiles.
Violence broke out when around 60 people gathered outside a property in Cowdenbeath’s Blamey Crescent after rumours swept the community of a “paedophile” living in the neighbourhood.
Footage circulating on social media showed the crowd chanting “paedo” and “get the beast out”. The residue of eggs which had been thrown at the windows of a property could also be seen.
The incident resulted in almost a dozen police officers descending on the scene on Wednesday evening.
Several videos showed a man being escorted from the property and taken to the safety of a waiting police van.
However, the crowd was condemned for throwing missiles at the attending officers during the preceding stand-off.
Although no officers were injured, the episode was branded “unacceptable” by bosses at Police Scotland.
Local area commander, Chief Inspector Paul Dick warned that police will be reviewing footage of the incident and prosecutions could follow.
He said: “Police were called around 6.40pm on Wednesday, 15 July to Blamey Crescent, Cowdenbeath to reports of a large crowd gathering outside a house.
“Unfortunately during the incident some of those gathered became extremely hostile towards the officers who attended, who at one point were struck when objects were thrown by members of the crowd.
“Police officers have a duty to ensure the safety of everyone involved in last night’s incident and whilst no officers were injured, this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.
“Although the crowd dispersed we will be making enquiries to establish if any of the crowd have committed any offences and will deal with individuals identified as being responsible appropriately. This will include reviewing any available video footage.”
Less than 24 hours later a second much smaller protest took place at a property in Kirkcaldy.
A man – understood to be the same person from the Cowdenbeath incident – was led away by police officer and placed in a waiting police car.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “Around 11.50am on Thursday July 16, officers were called to people gathering outside an address in Dunearn Drive, Kirkcaldy. Officers attended and no arrests were made.
“A man was removed from the property”
