INVERNESS SHERIFF COURT: Invader threw water over head teacher of Inverness High School 'by mistake'
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A 20-year-old Inverness man who entered a school with three of his friends 'mistakenly' threw water over the head teacher who tried to get them to leave.
Then less than a month later, Stephen Dick pretended he had a gun when funfair security staff refused to let him and his friends into an amusement park.
At Inverness Sheriff Court, Dick, formerly of Mackintosh Road, Inverness but who is now serving a period of detention, was given another nine-month sentence by Sheriff Sara Matheson after admitting the offences.
It was backdated to April 13.
The sheriff told Dick: "This involved the head teacher of Inverness High School and will have been of concern to parents that you accessed the grounds and behaved in this manner. And the suggestion that you had a gun at a children's funfair would have caused serious alarm."
The school incident on May 17, 2021 also involved 18-year-old Nathan Bell, of Scaniport, and he admitted shouting, swearing and uttering offensive remarks to the head teacher.
He was fined £470 because of his lesser role and fewer previous convictions than Dick.
The gun incident happened at Inverness's Bught Park on June 11, 2021.
Dick had previously admitted threatening behaviour and punching one of the security staff on the back of the head. Sentence was deferred for a background report.
Defence solicitor Marc Dickson said: "He was in the company of friends of a similar age and all had been drinking.
"They were waiting to get in and there was some kind of altercation regarding concern – quite rightly – by the security staff over one of them trying to take in a bottle of alcohol.
"One of the group wanted to see a family member at the school and he flicked water from a bottle over his shoulder. He did not mean to hit the teacher, and he indicated to police after his arrest that he wanted to apologise."
Bell's lawyer Willie Young said: "He was at the High School to meet his uncle who works there to get some money. He is a former pupil and knew the teacher concerned.
"He tried to explain in a clumsy fashion why he was there and accepts he used inappropriate language."
Fiscal depute David Barclay told Sheriff Matheson: "The teacher was worried that they may come back and contacted the police. People going about their business in a local school should be left in peace to do that."
