A NEIGHBOUR dispute ended up with a Dunfermline pensioner being ordered to pay a fine and compensation to his victim this week.

Double amputee Robert Coutts, 72, of Fodbank View, had earlier admitted that he had assaulted a woman at his home on January 21 last year by spitting at her and slapping her on the face.

At Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Wednesday, depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said friction between Coutts and a 76-year-old female neighbour had gone on for a while.

"There appears to have been trivial issues but they have resulted in bad feeling between the two parties," he told the court.

This assault happened after a call had been made to police the previous evening about noise coming from Coutts' house where there appeared to be a number of youths inside.

The neighbour's daughter went to Coutts' back door the next day to discuss the matter. He became aggressive and then spat on her face and slapped her on the face.

Defence solicitor Barbara Collie said her client was a first offender and was unlikely to re-offend. "There has been some bad feeling between my client and the complainer's mother and that is the background to this offence," she said. "My client regrets his actions and they had no prior planning."

Sheriff Charles Macnair fined Coutts £180 and ordered him to pay £250 of compensation to his victim.