Father gets steamed up over bonny baby contest

Published on Friday 21 November 2008 21:02

A FATHER pleaded guilty to breach of the peace after he stormed into a newspaper office demanding to know why his son had failed to reach the final three of a bonny baby competition.

Stuart McLean, from Bo'ness, West Lothian, had been drinking before going to the offices of the Linlithgowshire Journal and Gazette on Thursday to demand an explanation from the editor as to why his son was voted out of the competition.

But Linlithgow Sheriff Court heard that McLean became abusive to the editor, forcing staff to call the police.

The bonny baby competition attracts more than 100 entrants each year, with early rounds decided by readers sending in vouchers, texting or phoning. A judging panel then decides the overall winner of a professional studio portrait worth more than 100 and the bonny baby title.

Iain Smith, his defence solicitor, told the court the accused had said a policewoman agreed with him that his child was better looking than some of the more successful babies.

However, McLean admitted this may have been said to placate him.

Jack Shennan, the newspaper's editor, said: "The father was clearly drunk and was terribly upset to learn that the wee boy hadn't been shortlisted in the top three babies. It was a pretty strange thing to get steamed up about, an innocent thing like a bonny baby competition. It was quite surreal.

"He was aggressive and abusive and our receptionist got quite a fright. I tried to talk some sense into him, but he pushed a computer monitor over and I phoned the police.

"It was not pleasant for staff having a situation like that going on in a public office. There was always the danger he could have jumped over the counter.

"He then just stood there and we had an uncomfortable ten minutes until the police arrived."

Sheriff Peter Hammond fined McLean 120 and described his behaviour as "an act of stupidity".

Mr Smith added that there was a certain irony that the father had wished his child to be in the paper, but would now end up in its pages himself.