MacMoray festival-goer bit and kneed police officer after foul-mouthed outburst

A man who verbally and physically assaulted police officers after becoming aggressive at a music festival has been ordered to carry out unpaid work.

Elgin Sheriff Court heard that on August 10, 2024, Alexander McPhee was at the MacMoray summer festival in Elgin’s Cooper Park when he got into an altercation with members of the event’s security team.

Noticing what was happening, two police constables tried to assist but upon approach McPhee’s demeanour changed.

The 41-year-old started shouting, labelling the constables “s******s” and “m****s”.

He was taken to Elgin Police Station where he is said to have struggled with another constable, kneeing him on the head, biting him on the hand and shouting in such a way that spittle hit the constable’s face.

The struggle left the constable with slight swelling on his head although the bite did not break the skin.

McPhee made homophobic remarks, calling the police constable a “p**f” and a “gay boy” adding that he hoped the man’s family got cancer.

He also made offensive remarks about the judiciary stating: “The sheriff can go f**k his mum”.

Defence solicitor Grant Daglish told the court that his client was “disgusted” by his own actions.

He said McPhee had consumed alcohol before the incident and had no memory of it, adding that if he could remember the constables involved he would apologise to them personally.

The solicitor said that McPhee, who has previous convictions, has “turned a corner” in his life, however, and asked the court to consider the incident a “blip” in his recovery.

He added that McPhee, who works as a landscape gardener, has not touched alcohol since.

Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov said: “I’ve known you for a long time and you have appeared in court quite frequently over the last 10 years.

“I am prepared to see this as a blip, however, and I won’t send you to jail.”

McPhee was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work within nine months.

He was also placed under 12 months of supervision and ordered to pay £500 in compensation to the constables he verbally and physically assaulted.