Father stormed into playground to attack 11-year-old 'school bully'

A father who stormed into a primary school playground and attacked an 11-year-old boy in front of parents has been fined £300.

The 57-year-old father-of-two went to "mete out summary justice" over allegations that the boy and his friends had been bullying his daughter.

He left the 11-year-old boy with two cut knees and in tears after shoving him over twice in front of his friends and parents dropping their children off for the start of the school day.

The father was found guilty of assault after trying to blame the incident on his own daughter for pushing him into the "bully" who had been tormenting her.

The man, from Perth, was found guilty of assaulting and injuring the primary six pupil at a school in the city on January 8 by pushing him to the ground.

Fiscal depute John Malpass told Perth Sheriff Court: "He attended at the school yard to seek out some retribution on behalf of his daughter and pushed the boy on two occasions.

"He was there, in his own words, to speak to the boy, not the boy's parents. It was quite clear he was there to mete out some summary justice to the child he perceived was bullying his daughter.

"He was there to sort out the boy and sort him out he did. There was a deliberate act here on his part. His daughter admitted her father was angry and annoyed."

The court was told that the girl had been pushed over in the playground the day before and had gone home to report to her father that she was being bullied again.

However, Mr Malpass said: "Significantly, it wasn't about bullying. It was about rowdy conduct. It was a horseplay incident and not directly bullying."

In evidence, the father said he had gone to speak to the boy and had stumbled into him when his own daughter had pushed him towards the boy. He admitted that he had not offered any assistance to the boy when he left the scene in tears and with injuries to both of his knees.

Sheriff Michael Fletcher said: "I am satisfied with the Crown evidence in this case. I regard the evidence given by the accused and his witness as inherently unlikely. It seems a huge coincidence that a young girl could push her father on two occasions and as a result knock the boy over.

"It seems extraordinary to me that a father would come in to school to discuss bullying with a child and then tolerate his daughter pushing him in that way."