An off-duty police officer was found guilty of committing a breach of the peace after a trial at Perth Sheriff Court.
Christopher Halaka, from Falkirk, appeared on Thursday alongside his uncle Laurence Winters, of Fingask Cottage, Rhynd, in front of Sheriff Mark Stewart.
Both men were fined £250 after they were found guilty of conducting themselves in a disorderly manner by shouting and swearing while in Mill Street, Perth, on December 28, 2009.
The sheriff deleted mention of a sectarian element to the offence after ruling there was no evidence to suggest any chanting of such slogans had occurred, which had been included in the original charge.
The court heard that Halaka and Winters had been on a night out in Perth with a friend and, after finishing the evening at the Loft nightclub, headed to the taxi rank on Mill Street to make their way home.
In his evidence, 43-year-old Winters admitted confronting the witnesses but claimed that it had not been done in a malicious or aggressive manner.
“When one of them became confrontational, there were various insults said,” he said.
“I recall calling him ‘fatty’ and they were saying things to me, with one person saying ‘why don’t you go home’ at one point.
“I think they were trying to get me away from the taxi rank.”
Winters added that he and his nephew started to “take the mick” out of Ian Cameron, an off-duty CID officer based in Paisley.
He said, “We were laughing at him and I think he wanted a different reaction. He wanted us to disappear with our tails between our legs and he would be the one to send us on our way.
“I was saying things that probably weren’t that funny but seemed to be at the time.”
Meanwhile, Halaka told the court that he had taken a step back from the shouting, claiming that he didn’t want to be involved in the incident.
“Once Mr Cameron started including me in the conversation, I wanted to get away from it,” he said.
“I was not abusive towards him in any way.”
However, their protestations of innocence fell on deaf ears, as Sheriff Stewart told them that, while there may not have been a sectarian element, they had certainly committed a breach of the peace.
He said, “In relations to matters under consideration, it is the view of the court that a breach of the peace has been proved insofar as that you conducted yourself in a disorderly manner, shouted and swore.
“I accept this is out of character for both of you and treat this as a matter which, had it not been for a number of circumstances like being drunk and in an area like a taxi rank is something that probably would have passed without being drawn to the attention of the authorities.”
Halaka faces an inquiry from his employer Strathclyde Police.