A thug fat-shamed a McDonald’s customer before headbutting him as he tried to exit the fast-food restaurant, a court has heard.
Lewis Donald abused the man about his weight after he picked up a late-night burger at the Union Street branch of MacDonald’s on July 23 2019.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard the 29-year-old then headbutted the man in the middle of the shop.
Donald then made a bizarre attempt to apologise to his victim by shaking his hand.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of assault.
A ‘completely unprovoked’ attack
Fiscal depute Emma Petersen told the court that as the man picked up his food and was leaving McDonald’s, Donald called him a ‘fat b*****d’.
She added: “The complainer turned towards the accused who headbutted him to the right side of his head.
“The attack was completely unprovoked and it caused the complainer to fall backwards.
“He thereafter left the locus and the accused followed him outside.
“He was trying to engage with the complainer who was trying to walk away from him.
“The accused then tried to shake the complainer’s hand and the complainer shook back in an attempt to get the accused to go away.”
The man then returned home and called the police.
‘Act of utter stupidity’
Defence agent Liam McAllister told the court that Donald was “quite frankly, all over the place” at the time of the assault.
He said: “Mentally he was struggling with the position he found himself in and he was turning to alcohol and using it to excess.
“He was in the worst state I’ve seen him and this act of utter stupidity exemplifies that.
“My client immediately regrets his actions and can’t explain why he does it to this man as he doesn’t know him.
“It is frustrating that I can’t offer anything more than stupidity as an explanation.”
Mr McAllister added that Donald had subsequently apologised to his victim via “a third party”.
Sheriff Robert McDonald sentenced Donald, of Grampian Place, Aberdeen, to a one-year community payback order and ordered him to carry out 64 hours of unpaid work.
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