Crowd gathered after drunk man grabbed teenager in town centre

A crowd gathered outside Cowdenbeath police station after an incident involving a 15-year-old boy and a man in the High Street.

The boy was left shocked and frightened after the man, who was “clearly intoxicated”, grabbed him from behind and grunted in his ear.

When the youngster phoned home, family members arrived on the scene and tracked down the culprit.

The incident resulted in Brian Sawers, 40, of Peebles Street, Kirkcaldy, appearing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

Sawers admitted that on August 2 in Cowdenbeath High Street he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner by approaching the 15-yearold boy from behind, placing his arms around him, placing his chest against his back and making a noise in his ear.

The incident happened after the boy was seen sitting on a bench.

Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said: “The boy was shocked and scared and backed away from the accused. The accused then walked over the road and the boy phoned his family to tell them what has happened.

“His family members then attended at the High Street area. They approached the accused and ushered him towards the police station.

“The two officers who had seen the accused earlier came back to the police station and they were met by a crowd of people who had gathered outside and were making allegations against the accused.

“The accused was clearly intoxicated and told the officers he had placed his arm around the boy and shouldn’t have done it.”

Sentence was deferred until December 12 for reports.