A man grabbed a train conductor then unleashed a torrent of abuse when she asked to see his ticket.
Andrew Urquhart put his hands on the woman during the journey between Inverness and Muir of Ord.
When she asked to see his ticket he emptied his pockets onto the floor and told her to “find it yourself”.
Urquhart, 55, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having previously admitted a single charge of threatening or abusive behaviour in relation to the incident on May 7 this year.
Fiscal depute Shay Treanor told the court that the woman was on duty on the service between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh when she “felt a pair of hands on her shoulders”.
Woman felt ‘hands squeezing’
Mr Treanor said the hands were squeezing her and moving down the side of her arms.
He said: “She was shocked by this, stepped back and noted the accused behind her.”
When the woman told the accused not to touch her, he replied: “You are in my seat” before calling her a “stuck up f***ing c**t” and a “f***ing cow”.
She asked to see his ticket, at which point he emptied the contents of his pockets onto the floor and told the woman to “find it yourself”.
Urquhart then got off the train at Beauly, where he remained within the station, directing further abuse towards the woman.
Police were contacted and traced Urquhart to a pub in Beauly where he was arrested.
Accused ‘shocked’ and ‘remorseful’
Urquhart’s solicitor Matthew Berlow told the court that alcohol had been a catalyst for the incident and said: “He is remorseful and shocked at his behaviour.”
He added that his client had left his seat to visit the toilet and when he returned the woman had been “impeding his progress” causing him to “innocently” place his hands on her shoulders.
At this point, Mr Berlow said, the victim had accused his client of a sexual assault, which angered him.
“He had been falsely accused of sexually assaulting someone,” he said.
“That, combined with the fact that he was under the influence of alcohol has caused him to act in what he would describe as a very angry manner.”
Sheriff Sara Matheson placed Urquhart, of Kilmuir Place, Invergordon, on a community payback order with 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.
