Plockton, Inverness and Wick hospitality staff all subjected to abuse by drunk customer
A hospitality worker who moved around Scotland from job to job would get drunk and then abuse his colleagues, Inverness Sheriff Court was told.
Sheriff Gary Aitken was shocked to hear the "appalling behaviour" by 44 year old Slawomir Szczepanek, who currently lives and works at the Drover's Inn in Inverarnan in Argyll and Bute.
He considered jailing him after hearing the facts of three offences involving homophobic, racist and religiously biased remarks made at premises in Plockton, Inverness and Wick.
"Your behaviour when you are drunk is utterly appalling,” the sheriff told him. “You work in the hospitality industry yourself, would you expect to be treated like that?"
The accused mumbled "I have."
The sheriff then continued: "Well, stop it. Perhaps not getting drunk would be a way of staying in a job, out of prison and reuniting with your family.
"You are very close to a prison sentence but I have been persuaded to give you one last chance."
Defence solicitor Christina Cummings told the court of her client's domestic woes and alcohol problem.
She said: "He is remorseful for his behaviour and has significantly reduced his alcohol use. I am asking the court to give him one last chance."
Fiscal depute Rowan Marchbank said that on February 13 this year Szczepanek was intoxicated in the King's Highway in Church Street, Inverness and verbally abused and threatened a staff member who refused to serve him any more drink, after demanding to know if he was gay.
He then left the premises to cross the road to an off licence where he made similar remarks and threats after being refused a bottle of wine.
His second offence was in a takeaway in Wick on April 3 when he again was asked to leave, prompting a rant about the workers' ethnicity and religion.
Mr Marchbank said: “He became more aggressive and began banging on the counter, putting the staff members in a state of fear and alarm."
On April 27, Szczepanek was drunk in the Plockton Inn when he became angry with a barmaid and stormed out.
Later that evening, Mr Marchbank said, he saw the woman in another bar in the village and started shouting at her.
"She returned to work followed by the accused who was refused further alcohol," he said.
Once more, Szczepanek erupted with a tirade of racist abuse and police were contacted.
He admitted two charges of threatening or abusive behaviour and two offences under the Protection of Retail Workers Act and was ordered to carry out 290 hours of unpaid community work as an alternative to custody.