Teenager who abused restaurant worker has sentence deferred

Categories: Latest News
Friday November 25 2016
The Aberdeen Press and Journal reports on a teenager who subjected a restaurant worker to a night of “racist torment” forcing him to defend himself with “chilli powder”.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sixteen at the time of the incident in April.
The teenager had been out drinking with a group of friends on Saturday 9 April when they walked into the Sunset Tandoori restaurant in Keith, Aberdeenshire where Mirza Taher works at around 11.25pm.
The teenager “became argumentative” with Mr Taher and made abusive references “regarding his ethnicity”.
A chef at the restaurant called the police but the group of youths were gone by the time police arrived.
Later, in the early hours of Sunday 10 April, at around 1.50am, the teenager was among youths who returned to the restaurant.
Mr Taher recognised the teenager from the earlier incident. The teenager again made “racial remarks” and tried to jump onto the shop counter.
“Mr Taher threw chilli powder at him and managed to get him to leave”, Fiscal Alex Swaine told the court.
The teenager was later arrested and charged but said he had no recollection of the incident. His solicitor told the court “Even though he was only 16 at the time, my client had consumed a significant amount of alcohol.”
The teenager admitted to acting in a racially aggravated manner intended to cause alarm and distress, and attempting to jump on the shop counter.
Sheriff Chris Dickson at Elgin Sheriff Court deferred sentencing for six months. He warned the teenager to observe good behaviour during that time.
He added: “The language that you used was completely unacceptable, nobody should have to face that kind of abuse.”