A lorry driver pinned a schoolboy to a wall because he got a “fright” after almost running him over with his 18 tonne vehicle.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that Stephen Ewart attacked the teenager in Aberfeldy on August 14 last year after he was forced to perform an emergency stop.
While the boy said he was on the pavement, Ewart insisted he had been on the wrong side of a safety barrier on the corner and he feared he had come close to killing the child.
Jim Eodanable, prosecuting, said the boy had been walking along the street with two friends during their school lunch break.
He said: “As they were passing the Black Watch pub there was a funeral wake and there were people gathered. The complainer walked on the edge of the pavement to get past them.
“The accused was in a lorry turning right on to the road. The complainer noted that the vehicle was about half a metre away as it passed him.”
Mr Eodanable said Ewart left his lorry, walked towards the boy, swore at him and asked what he thought he was doing.
“The complainer tried to explain he was staying on the pavement,” he went on.
Ewart then seized the boy by the shirt collar.
Mr Eodanable continued: “The accused was seemingly seeking an apology, which the complainer was aware of, but he was unable to talk due to the compression on his throat.”
The 46-year-old claimed he flew into a rage because the boy did not seem to understand the severity of the situation.
Solicitor Rosie Scott, defending, said Ewart had only spotted the boy by chance as he was in the vehicle’s blind spot.
She said: “He was very, very worried he could have killed this child. He accepts he did shout at the lad but his position is that he had turned away from the boy and he had started laughing at him. He was angered that they did not seem to be taking it seriously.”
Ewart, of South William Street, Perth, admitted assaulting the 14-year-old by seizing him by his clothing, pushing him against the wall and compressing his throat.
Sheriff William Wood fined the lorry driver £300.