An outbreak of bad behaviour at a Fife Council after-school club was not caused by the children but by the senior play-worker.
The bullying behaviour of James McKenzie towards a new female colleague landed him in the dock and he was also suspended from his job, Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard.
The woman was a child care practitioner who started work in January and quickly became the target of McKenzie’s nasty sense of humour.
When the police were called in McKenzie claimed: “I’m a joker.”
He repeatedly made offensive remarks about the woman’s weight and kept asking if she was pregnant.
McKenzie, 51, of Clunie Road, Dunfermline, admitted that between January 16 and 30 at St Margaret’s Primary, Woodmill Road, he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner and in the course of his employment made inappropriate comments towards a woman also employed there.
He admitted he made comments about her weight, threatened to fire her, squirted at her with a water pistol, shot foam darts at her and placed her in a state of fear and alarm.
The woman complained when McKenzie shot a toy Nerf gun at her but he continued to fire it at her, hitting her on the neck and back.
He also squirted a water-pistol at her trousers and said to her: “That’s something else you’ll get when you’re pregnant, a weak bladder.”
On another occasion, McKenzie had grapes in his hand and commented: “That’s something else you’ll get when you’re pregnant, piles.”
When the woman complained to her line manager, McKenzie was unhappy and threatened to sack her.
When the victim eventually contacted the police, McKenzie told officers: “I’m a joker.”
He apologised and said, “it had gone too far”.
Sheriff Craig McSherry ordered McKenzie to pay the woman £500 compensation.
