PUSS IN BUDS
Panto dad attacks 15-year-old boy after he’s accused of letting girl, 8, drink beer in theatre
A FIGHT broke out after a panto over claims a young girl had been drinking from a bottle of beer during the show.
A granny thought she saw the child drinking Budweiser but the girl’s dad insisted she had been sipping Ribena from a sports bottle.
A night of family fun turned into fisticuffs following a performance at the Lochgelly Centre in Fife.
The warring theatregoers were sat next to each other.
After the show, the gran told dad David Hopkins he should be ashamed of himself for letting his daughter drink beer, kicking off a heated argument.
Hopkins then got involved in a fight with the gran’s 15-year-old grandson.
Shop manager Hopkins, of Lochgelly, appeared yesterday at Dunfermline Sheriff Court. He admitted he struggled and fought with the boy last December.
Prosecutor Rebecca Clark told the court: “The woman saw the accused drinking from a bottle of Budweiser during the show.
“She later noticed the girl being handed the bottle and believed she saw her drinking from it.
“The show finished and all parties exited. They went into the car park, the grandmother saw the accused and said to him, ‘You should be ashamed of yourself for letting your daughter drink beer in a theatre’.
“The accused asked his daughter if she had drank out of the beer bottle. She said, ‘No, I was just pretending’.”
The court heard the grandson then told Hopkins: “There’s no f ****** need for that.”
Ms Clark added: “A fight broke out between the 15-year-old boy and the accused. Punches were exchanged.”
Defence solicitor Gordon Martin said: “Mr Hopkins is adamant his daughter was not drinking any beer, although she may have put the bottle to her mouth. She had her own drink – Ribena in a sports bottle.
“Mr Hopkins doesn’t remember any exchange of punches. It’s a one-off incident.”
Fining Hopkins £560, Sheriff Keith O’Mahoney told him: “Whatever the circumstances and background, it’s unacceptable for a man in his 40s to become involved in a physical confrontation with a 15-year-old child.”