A DUNFERMLINE man assaulted his neighbour after he was said to be "at the end of his tether" about noise coming from his flat.

Christopher Thompson claimed music was too loud however Sheriff Charles Macnair, who had previously found him guilty during a trial, said the victim was entitled to listen to music.

Appearing for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Wednesday, Thompson, 23, of Blacklaw Road, had been found guilty of assaulting the man on February 6 last year by seizing him by the body, placing him in a headlock and repeatedly punching him on the head to his injury.

Solicitor Jonathan Matheson-Dear said the music had caused anxiety for his client.

"He had been at the end of his tether with noise coming from the complainer's flat which had occurred on a number of occasions prior to this," he said "Rather than approaching the complainer, he got himself into a fight. Fortunately the complainer was not badly injured."

Sheriff Charles Macnair placed Thompson on a community payback order with supervision for 12 months. As part of the order, he will also have to do 150 hours of unpaid work within six months and pay £250 compensation.

Before sentencing, he told him: "This was an assault on a neighbour who, whatever you may think, in my view was just conducting himself in a normal way. People are entitled to listen to music and I do not accept that he was playing it loudly.

"It was a sustained assault which included placing him in a headlock and repeatedly punching him on the head."