Thug OAP who broke golf pro’s arm in shades row avoids jail

A violent pensioner, who attacked a golf club professional in a row over a pair of sun-glasses, has avoided jail.

The victim sustained a broken arm after raging customer Lawrence Ogilvie (69, pictured above) pulled him over the club shop counter.

Thug grandad Ogilvie was told he could have faced a year in jail but instead was ordered to pay £6000 compensation and carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

Club pro Chris Nugent (pictured below) submitted a victim impact statement saying the injury was causing him on-going problems.

Sheriff Pino di Emidio commented, “If there is a civil action Mr Ogilvie could be facing a claim of tens of thousands of pounds, if not more.”

The sheriff told Ogilvie, “There has been a clear loss of control when you vented your frustration to Mr Nugent.

“There are likely to be consequences for Mr Nugent for some time to come.”

The golf pro was sent sprawling into a metal clothes holder, breaking his arm, before Ogilvie began choking him and making threats to get him and his family, a trial heard last month.

The shocking incident took place at Dunfermline Golf Club, Crossford, early one morning in August last year when Ogilvie stormed into the pro’s shop demanding a replacement pair of shades.

After a two-day trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Ogilvie, of Glen Moriston Drive, Cairneyhill, was found guilty.

He had denied that on 13th August last year at Dunfermline Golf Club, he assaulted Mr Nugent by seizing his clothing, pulling him, threatening him with violence, pulling him over a counter causing him to fall to the ground, straddled him, pinned him to the ground and seized him by the neck, all to his severe injury.

Mr Nugent (43) told the court the incident had happened after Ogilvie came into the club shop unhappy about the sun-glasses he had bought there previously.

Mr Nugent said after the purchase Ogilvie had not been satisfied with the lenses and he previously ordered another set for him.

“He wasn’t happy with the new ones either. He said they weren’t fit for purpose and wanted me to order a set he had found through a Google search.

“He had printed off a couple of sheets of paper about them. I said I couldn’t do that. They had been purchased six months ago and I could only order through my suppliers.

“He demanded that I order these as replacements.”

“What was his demeanour?” asked depute fiscal Jade Doig.

“Not very pleasant. I refused and said I couldn’t order anything from this website he had found. He asked if I was extremely stupid.

“He said, ‘You will order these f****** glasses’. I said again that I couldn’t do that.”

Mr Nugent said he was sitting on a stool behind the shop counter when Ogilvie then attacked him.

“He grabbed me by the collar at the front of my neck and shook me back and forward. He was extremely angry. He grabbed my left arm and I was pushed out to the shop floor,” the club pro continued.

“It all happened very quickly. I was spun around and I crashed into one of the clothing units. I believe that’s when I broke my arm.

“I was then thrown on to the floor and Mr Ogilvie was on top of me. He had his hand on my neck squeezing it, using a lot of force. I thought I was going to become unconscious.

“He was sitting straddled on top of me, pinning me down. There was very little I could do. I had severe pain in my arm.

“I was just trying to breathe. He probably held my neck for 30 to 40 seconds. Again he threatened me and said I better do as he asked.

“He said if he saw me, my wife and the children in the village or at Tesco he would have us.

“He got up, gathered the papers he’d brought in and left.”

The police and ambulance service were called and Mr Nugent was taken to the Victoria Hospital where an X-ray confirmed he had sustained a fracture to the top of his right arm.

He told the court his arm had been in a sling for seven weeks after the incident.

Another witness told the trial he had saw a clearly angry Ogilvie at the club that morning and he had described Mr Nugent as a “robbing b******” who had “done him out of £160”.

Retired Ogilvie, who has 12 grandchildren, did not give evidence.