Star admits road rage attack on taxi driver

Kiernan pleaded guilty to assaulting William Kerr and throwing him on to the road following a row near a supermarket in Glasgow’s West End.

The 42-year-old actor did not appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court to answer the charges, citing filming commitments in London. His lawyer, William Nugent, pleaded guilty on his behalf to two assault charges.

Kiernan admitted he attacked Mr Kerr in Sutcliffe Road, Anniesland, on 30 October last year by punching him on the head.

The Still Game star also admitted that after he punched the man again, he pulled him from his vehicle and on to the road.

The matter was reported to police, and Kiernan - who came to prominence alongside comedy partner Greg Hemphill - was later charged.

It is believed the assault - which left Mr Kerr injured - happened after tempers flared as both men tried to get out of the busy supermarket car park.

Sheriff Brian Lockhart deferred sentencing until next month and ordered Kiernan, of Dowanhill, Glasgow, to be present at the next hearing.

Speaking after the case, Kiernan said: "I’m certainly not condoning road rage. If the scuffle did lead to the charges, then I didn’t want it to happen and things went the wrong way, but I have to say that there were mitigating circumstances."

Kiernan said the incident had begun while he been sitting in his car with his two children, aged three and six, waiting for his wife to return from the shops.

On his decision to instruct his lawyer to plead guilty, he said: "I’m more interested in putting closure on it.

"I just want to see the back of it as soon as possible."

Kiernan first came to the public’s attention in 1999, when Chewin’ the Fat was broadcast on BBC Scotland.

Receiving both critical acclaim and high viewer ratings, the series went on to be broadcast nationwide, despite the reliance on heavy Glaswegian accents and local stereotypes.

Ironically, one of Kiernan’s most famous comic characters from the series is that of an angry man who is incapable of keeping his temper when faced with testing circumstances.

The popularity of the creation is such that its characters have been used by Scottish Enterprise to promote take-up of broadband services.

Kiernan and Hemphill transplanted two of the series’ characters, the elderly curmudgeons Jack and Victor, given to squabbling and railing against those who do them wrong, to the spin-off sitcom Still Game, which enjoyed similar success.

A spokeswoman for BBC Scotland yesterday said of the case that "it was a personal matter" for Kiernan.