Maryburgh building site flare-up leads to joiner paying the price at Highland court

A confrontation at a Ross-shire building site led to an Inverness joiner unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks at a fellow workmate.

CCTV cameras at the site in Hood Street, Maryburgh showed the victim, Mackay Murray, push 42-year-old Craig Birse on the chest after a nose to nose stand-off before the retaliation.

Birse chased Mr Murray, threw some punches and kicks while holding a pair of tin snips before Mr Mackay ran away.

The whole incident on April 30 last year lasted just a few seconds and fiscal depute David Morton told Sheriff Sara Matheson that it told the story better than his words.

After being arrested, Birse was taken to Burnett Road Police Station in Inverness where he failed to tell two police officers that he may have Covid.

The court heard that Birse and his daughter should have been self-isolating after she was a close contact of someone who had tested positive.

Mr Morton added that two police officers had to self-isolate until they were tested. All of them returned negative results and no-one actually contracted the virus, Mr Morton went on.

Birse of Aspen Place, Culloden admitted assaulting Mr Murray to his injury and culpably and recklessly failing to tell police he may have Covid symptoms and risking exposing the officers and their families to the virus.

Mr Wilson said: "There was a history of bad blood between the two men. Something must have been said.

"The complainer delivered a solid two-handed push to my client's chest. He should have walked away but the red mist came down."

Father of two Birse was fined a total of £680.