Bo'ness chip shop menace taken away to cells for talking back to sheriff

Appearing at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday, Neil Walker, 35, had pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour and damaging property offences he committed at Corvi

Restaurant, Seaview Place, Bo’ness, on February 11 last year. He also admitted threatening behaviour at the same location on October 28, 2022.

Earlier this year the court heard Walker, 28 Waggon Road, Bo’ness, arrived at the chip shop in his dressing gown and pyjamas to pick up his order and then proceeded

to wreck the counter and slap a female member of staff before heading off.

As if the damage to the counter and the slap to the woman’s face were not bad enough, Walker then turned up at the chip shop several months later, annoyed he had

received a date to attend court regarding the offence he had committed.

At the time Sheriff Craig Harris placed Walker on a supervised community payback order for 12 months and a restriction of liberty order, meaning he must remain in his home between 7pm and 7am for 70 days.

Last Thursday the court heard Walker – referred to by his defence solicitor Stephen Biggam as a “work in progress” – had not made a good start to his court orders.

Not in court when his name was called, Walker, said to suffer from anxiety, had to be called in from outside and then made the mistake of letting loose a verbal outburst in front of Sheriff Christopher Shead.

Taken down to the cells for over an hour, Walker re-emerged and made an official apology to Sheriff Shead.

He said: “Sorry for my actions your honour.”

Mr Biggam added: “There’s nothing worse than bad manners and he accepts it was his own fault he was taken downstairs.”

Sheriff Shead called for a further review of the community payback order in three month’s time to August 24 so Walker could make better progress. He found it unnecessary to find him in contempt of court.