Court / Chef fined after striking Trench security in row over £5 entrance fee

A CHEF who assaulted two Trench door-staff during a week-long stay in Shetland has been fined at Lerwick Sheriff Court.

Scott McMillan, from Brackla in Inverness-shire, struck a male and female member of security staff on the body outside the nightclub on 28 June 2025.

He also admitted behaving aggressively towards the pair and threatening them with violence, and behaving aggressively towards police officers at the Market Cross and Lerwick Police Station.

The latter offence, the court heard, was aggravated by prejudice relating to disability.

McMillan, 51, had been drinking heavily and reacted angrily at Trench after being told he had to pay a £5 entrance fee.

Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said McMillan had been drinking in the bar previously, and did not understand why he had to pay when he returned.

The fiscal called it a “classic case of a belligerent, aggressive drunk who simply wouldn’t take a telling”.

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McMillan told the male security guard he was going to headbutt him, and when his female colleague came over to calm him down he told her he was “going to smash your face in”.

He struck her on the body with a closed fist, and when the male staff member stepped in McMillan did the same to him.

McMillan left the scene, and police were able to trace him at the Market Cross based on a description from the two security staff.

His behaviour towards police was no better, the court was told, with McMillan threatening to put them in a chokehold when he was released from his handcuffs.

He also called them terms relating to disability.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said McMillan was only pleading guilty at the last minute, just before it went to trial, because he had not been able to watch police footage before that point.

However Sheriff Philip Mann questioned why McMillan needed to see CCTV to know how he behaved.

He said the only reason for this would have been “unless they were so drunk that they can’t remember”.

“I think you’ve hit the nail on the head,” Allan replied.

The solicitor said that McMillan had been drinking heavily on the day in question, which was the anniversary of his mother’s death.

McMillan had mistakenly thought that the dispute took place as much as six hours earlier than it did, Allan added.

He said McMillan had come to Shetland to work as a chef, and was “on his own in a new place” when he had decided to start drinking.

“He’s clearly not proud of it,” Allan said.

McMillan is set to become a grandfather, he said, and he admitted himself “his behaviour is not the actions of a grandfather to be”.

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“He was embarrassed about what he had done. He’s sorry to everybody concerned.”

Sheriff Mann said that McMillan “simply can’t come to Shetland, or anywhere, and act like this”.

“You chose to drink, and you chose to drink to excess,” the sheriff told him.

“You have to take the consequences of your actions.”

McMillan was fined a total of £860, along with a victim surcharge of £40, to take his total fine to £900.

He was told that the fine was a direct alternative to a custodial disposal.