A zoo director has been admonished after he shouted at his spurned son’s cheating wife.
Reginald Knight, 70, a director at Fife Zoo in Ladybank, walked from court without punishment after admitting acting in a threatening and abusive manner toward Briony Taylor.
He was admonished by Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown, who took into account the fact it was his first offence and the time lapsed since the incident occurred.
The animal park, which has been beset by two fires and the effects of the Covid pandemic, was brought into further turmoil after manager Kenneth Gibney landed in court last year for assaulting Knight’s son, Michael.
Mr Gibney had been having an affair with Ms Taylor, Michael Knight’s partner.
Thought complainer had been sacked
At Dundee Sheriff Court, Reginald Knight admitted shouting and acting in a threatening and abusive manner toward Ms Taylor after the affair came to light.
He pointed his finger in her face, tried to prevent her from entering the zoo and put his car in front of her vehicle in July 2022.
On being cautioned and charged, Knight justified his actions by saying: “I was under the impression she had been sacked”.
Defence solicitor Robin Beattie, in mitigation for Knight, said: “He is 70 and has no previous convictions.
“The complainer had been in a long term relationship with his son.
“There was an infidelity.
“He set up the zoo in retirement. He wanted her removed from the company.
“He thought she had been removed as a director on companies house.”
Previous assault case
Michael Knight set up the zoo – in an echo of the Matt Damon movie We Bought A Zoo – with his partner Briony Taylor and his father is a director.
Ms Taylor has since been removed as a director.
Mr Gibney, 34, who was sacked for gross misconduct, was ultimately admonished for his assault on Michael Knight.
In June 2022, he told Dundee Sheriff Court he was being bullied by his boss.
The court heard he lashed out in front of other staff, pushed him over and kicked him while he was lying on the ground.
He said he had been trying to raise concerns about the zoo but had been “belitted” and eventually snapped.
Fires
Knight’s court appearance this week is the latest chapter in the troubled early years of the zoo, bought by the group in 2015.
It took two years to get animals on site.
Fire ripped through Fife Zoo’s soft play centre just six days after it reopened following the first Covid-19 lockdown.
The fire was started by faulty electrics in their solar panels, which were kept next to the soft play, the owners said in an interview.
It was hit by a second blaze last July, which destroyed a barn, a caravan and a car.
Nobody was hurt in either incident.
Approaching the second anniversary of the soft play centre blaze, Mr Knight said the zoo was still waiting on a pay-out from its insurance company.
Fife Zoo features mainly African animals, and the owners plan to introduce more South American and Asian animals in the future.
There are also plans to create an education and meetings space.
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