Rogart crofter fined £600
A SUTHERLAND crofter has been fined £600 today after admitting acting in a threatening manner towards postmen trying to deliver mail to one of his neighbours.
Tain Sheriff Court heard last month how 75-year-old David Moss did not believe Royal Mail postmen had the right to use his private access road to make the delivery to a neighbour’s mailbox near his Castle Muir home in Rogart.
He also claimed they were speeding and causing damage to the road.
Depute fiscal Karen Smith told the court on May 12 that on one occasion Moss stood in the path of a postal van and waved a spanner at the driver.
Moss, who spent time in custody for failing to appear at a previous court hearing, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards a postman between January 1 and July 15, 2012, by shouting and swearing at him.
He also admitted that on May 14, 2012, he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner towards another postman and attempted to block his vehicle, running towards him brandishing a spanner, pushing him and struggling with him.
He also admitted failing to appear for a court hearing at Dornoch on February 18 last year.
Mrs Smith referred the court to a letter from a 69-year-old neighbour who said Moss’s actions had “effectively removed access between me and the outside world.”
Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist had deferred sentence until today for a background report.
He fined Moss £300 on both of the public disorder offences and admonished him for failing to appear on February 18.
