An Aberdeenshire businessman who attacked a teenage cyclist has been ordered to pay his victim £500 compensation.
Last month, Roderick Brown was found guilty of grabbing 17-year-old Aiden Matthewson’s clothing, pulling him from his bike and repeatedly punching him in an incident near St Cyrus.
Stonehaven Sheriff Court heard that the 30-year-old business development manager believed Mr Matthewson had vandalised his silver BMW 4×4 when they passed each other on an unclassified road between Ecclesgreig Road and Hill of Morphie on September 6 last year.
After a brief altercation both men continued on their journeys but Brown, of 8 Dickson Way, St Cyrus, doubled back to wait for Mr Matthewson, who was on his way home to Marykirk from Inverbervie, further along the road and assaulted him.
Yesterday Brown’s solicitor Bruce McDonald said: “Mr Brown fully accepts that the far better option would have been for him to report this matter to the police and not pursue this young man in the manner that he did.
“This has been a very significant event in Mr Brown’s life and he does wish me to make clear how much he regrets the actions he did take.
“He works in business development for a smallish company and his task is to win business for the company.
“A lot of this business come from abroad, the United States, and it is a little bit unknown how his conviction will effect his ability to enter the United Sates.
“His employment is under review.”
Sheriff Christopher Shead placed Brown under supervision for a year, order to him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and pay Mr Matthewson £500 in compensation.
Last night, Mr Matthewson’s mother, Carol Sharp, said her son had given up his job as a landscape gardener because of the case and was unable to cycle along the road where the incident happened.
She said: “To do that to any child is disgraceful and I do not think he (Brown) was sorry enough.
“Aiden has given up his job and will not cycle from Inverbervie anymore – he has barely slept.
“That is the end of it now and it is closure.”