Motherwell coach Scott Leitch involved in late-night bust up

A former Hearts and Motherwell star Scott Leitch has been fined £1,300 after being involved in a late-night bust up with a taxi driver on a busy motorway.

The 48-year-old was returning home from a night out when an argument erupted between him and cabbie John Wilson on the M74 near Hamilton, Lanarkshire.

As the argument intensified, Leitch, who is the director of Motherwell’s academy, struck Wilson on the head before lunging forward and trying to grab hold of the steering wheel.

The shocked driver was forced to take evasive action as he desperately tried to stop a furious Leitch getting his hands on the wheel.

But as he did the former Motherwell captain grabbed hold of him by his clothes causing them to rip.

The car was eventually stopped and police were called but when they arrived Leitch struggled violently with them as they tried to arrest him.

And as they were taking him to a nearby police station, he began shouting, swearing and threatening officers.

Leitch, of Motherwell, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted behaving culpably and recklessly in the taxi, struggling violently with police and behaving in a threatening and abusive manner in June.

He was fined £900 and ordered to pay Wilson £400 in compensation by Sheriff Douglas Brown.

An allegation Leitch had assaulted Wilson by seizing him on the clothing and repeatedly slapping him on the head was dropped by prosecutors.

A source said: “He had been coming home from a night out when things just boiled over in the taxi.

“He deeply regrets his actions and knows his behaviour was out of order.”

Leitch came through Motherwell’s youth system and went on to have spells at Dunfermline, Hearts and Swindon Town before rejoining his hometown club in 2000.

He then spent six years at the club and was captain as it went through administration.

He also led the side out at Hampden during the 2005 League Cup final when the club eventually came through its financial difficulties.

After his retirement in 2006, he went on to manage Ross County, winning the Challenge Cup, before returning to Motherwell again for a successful two-year stint as Mark McGhee’s assistant.

He then followed McGhee to Pittodrie when he got the Aberdeen job, and also worked with another former Motherwell head of youth, Chris McCart, at Celtic’s elite academy.

Leitch took up his current role as director of Motherwell’s academy in November 2013 and said he was ‘delighted’ to be back working with the club.