An Arbroath man who spat at two supermarket employees after stealing bottles of alcohol was fined at the town’s sheriff court.
Michael Nicoll, 25, of Newton Crescent, admitted that on February 20 at Morrisons supermarket in Arbroath, he stole a quantity of alcohol and assaulted two men and spat on them.
Deputy fiscal Hazel Anderson told the court: “The employees stopped Nicoll as he was leaving the store.
“One man took hold of the accused’s arm, at which point the accused spat on him, with the spittle landing on his sleeve. He was then restrained from leaving and repeatedly spat in the face and back of the head of the other man.
“Police were called and Nicoll was arrested and detained. He told police ‘I stole the bottles. I didn’t do it for drugs. I have no money and I’m starving’.”
Defence agent Lynsey McLeod said her client had just been released from prison when the offence occurred.
She said: “He had intended to sell the bottles for food. He panicked when he was stopped by the members of staff and lashed out.
“Despite the number of offences on his record, he has no previous convictions for assault. This was out of character.”
Sheriff Peter Paterson fined Nicoll £75 for the theft of the alcohol and imposed compensation of orders of £100 to each of the store employees.