A ROW over a one-way system introduced in a Rosyth shop as part of COVID safety measures has led to a jail sentence for a local man.

Andrew Dempster returned to the Co-op store just days after being barred for not complying with the one-way rules in the aisles.

When told he was banned, the 40-year-old got into another row with shopworkers and ended up being arrested.

In the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing was Dempster, of Alexander Place, Rosyth.

He admitted previously that on May 14, at the Co-op store, Castlandhill Road, he acted in an aggressive manner towards a female employee and raised his voice towards her.

Depute fiscal Jill Currie said: “At around 4.15pm, two employees saw the accused coming into the store and they knew he had been barred four days earlier.

“This had been due to him not complying with the one-way system and becoming agitated when asked to do so.

“On this occasion when told he was banned from the shop, he became aggressive and raised his voice to the workers. He said they had been putting his life at risk the last time he was in the shop.

“He stepped towards one of the women and she had to take a step backwards. At that point, she asked another member of staff to phone the police.

“Another person who was with the accused in the shop was trying to calm him down.”

Police arrived at the shop to find one of the workers was “significantly distressed and upset” by the incident.

Defence solicitor Peter Robertson said: “He accepts he shouldn’t have been there. The shop had their own regulations which they wanted people to stick by.

“On the previous occasion, he was trying to avoid coming close to other people to keep himself safe and had skipped an aisle. He wasn’t putting others at risk and he became upset.”

Sheriff Neil Bowie told Dempster: “This was a serious matter involving shop workers having to put up with this behaviour at an already difficult time. You had been told you were already barred. You also have a lengthy record.”

He jailed Dempster for three months.

Dempster was unimpressed by the sentence, shouting: “F****** scumbag” as he was led to the cells.