Drunk in race rant at castle

Yob given supervision and fined

A drunk caused a disturbance at Stirling Castle gates in front of tourists by making an obscene gesture and uttering racial remarks.

Phillip Hutton, of Morris Terrace, appeared on a racially-aggravated charge of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner at Stirling Sheriff Court last Wednesday. The 40-year-old had admitted the offence at an earlier hearing. Fiscal depute Lindsey Brooks told Sheriff Simon Collins that the incident had occurred at 1.45pm on Saturday August 18 this year.

A French tourist was standing at the castle entrance and saw the accused make an obscene motion towards the fortress.

Hutton then tried to pick up the man’s two-year-old son before shouting ‘Oi Pakis’ towards people at the entrance.

Ms Brooks explained that there were no Asian or Pakistani witnesses – and she was unsure if there were people of Pakistani origin in the vicinity or not.

Hutton then walked away towards the castle and tried to get inside. Approaching castle staff, he shouted: ‘Do you want a f ****** fight? Do you want a square go? This is Scotland.’ Police were contacted, attended, and arrested Hutton. However, he was too drunk to be interviewed.

His agent George Pollock told Sheriff Collins that Hutton had no recollection of the events. He pointed out however that Hutton had made efforts to address his alcohol problem.

Hutton’s drinking he added “inevitably resulted in him getting into trouble” and he had experienced difficulty holding down a job with a construction firm as a result. However, the job, in which he earned £300 per week, was still open to him

Mr Pollock also pointed out that an existing Community Payback Order imposed on another matter “should assist him remaining out of trouble.”

A petition matter, which pre-dated the Stirling Castle incident, was outstanding, he said. Hutton was currently subject to a curfew keeping him at home between 7pm and 7am seven days a week, rolling this over would allow him to work, said Mr Pollock.

Sheriff Collins sentenced Hutton to a CPO requiring him to undergo 12 months’ supervision – to run concurrently with the existing CPO – as an alternative to custody. Hutton was also fined £320 payable at a rate of £50 per week.