Perth teenager sentenced for punching and hitting horse

A Perth teenager who punched a horse has been ordered to carry out 100 hours’ unpaid work in the community.

Perth Sheriff Court had heard how Nico Pettigrew, 18, of Crieff Road, had hit the animal in the chest with a stone as he “joked around” with a female friend in a field on Mayfield Road, Scone, late at night.

During a trial at the court, witness Hilda Cochrane said she had been watching from her home window and saw Pettigrew punch the horse in the face before it moved back.

“The young guy got a brick or stone and hit the horse,” she had said.

Her husband, Ronnie Cochrane, told the court he had checked the horse the following day and found it had a bruise on its chest that was still bleeding.

Pettigrew had claimed the witnesses were mistaken and the stone he threw had struck a fence post.

Sheriff Michael Fletcher found him guilty of punching a horse, throwing stones at it and striking it on the body on June 19 last year.

Pettigrew was also found guilty of smashing a bus shelter on Scone Road, Perth, the same evening.

He was placed on an 18-month community payback order, which includes the unpaid work.