Dog walker subjected Polish men to racist tirade in Moray village
An offshore worker who subjected two Polish men to racist abuse while walking his dog has been ordered to carry out unpaid work.
Elgin Sheriff Court heard that at around midnight on February 18, 2024, two Polish men were smoking on Burns Road in Lhanbryde while they waited for a taxi when village resident Grant Gardiner walked by with his dog.
The dog appeared friendly and the two men began to pet it and attempted some polite small talk with Gardiner.
But upon hearing the men’s accents he asked if they were Polish.
They confirmed this at which point the 38-year-old, whose address was given as Kirkland Hill, Lhanbryde, subjected them to a tirade of racist abuse telling the men that he “hated Polish people and foreigners” as they were “stealing all the jobs”.
Procurator fiscal Shamilah Ghafar told the court that Gardiner continued the abuse before attempting to square up to the men.
Feeling threatened, the men retreated back into their property and locked the door before calling the police.
However, while inside they heard a loud banging noise which was later discovered to have been caused by Gardiner kicking and punching the fence to the garden.
Police cautioned and charged Gardiner after arriving and recovered a knife from his pocket after he intimated that he was in possession of one.
Defence solicitor Stephen Carty said Gardiner was “enormously embarrassed” and deeply regretted the incident.
He told the court that his client was heavily intoxicated at the time but that he accepts that his comments were of a racist nature.
He added that the knife Gardiner had in his pocket was from working at home earlier in the day and that he had forgotten it was there.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov said Gardiner’s attitude was “completely unacceptable” adding that “racism has no place in society”.
She ordered him to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work.
Gardiner was also ordered to pay £100 in compensation to each of the men as well as £20 to cover the damage to the fence.