Fine for woman who trashed Falkirk takeaway an 'injustice', says owner

Dismayed Zohaib Arshad insists Ann Marie Fowler (33) should have been imprisoned and made to pay far more than the £400 compensation order she received after going on a drunken rampage that caused £4000 of damage at Kebabish in Falkirk.

Footage of the episode showed Fowler assaulting a worker, hauling down glass counters and hurling food around the Grahams Road eatery on July 21.

Appearing at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday, Fowler, of 2 Greenacres, Kelty, had admitted breaching a court-imposed curfew order to remain at home from 7pm until 7am daily by attending the shop and committing a racially aggravated assault on a man.

The mum-of-two had also pled guilty to shouting, swearing, uttering offensive remarks and wilfully destroying property belonging to another by punching a till, throwing items of food and pulling a glass display case containing items of food from its stand, causing it to fall to the floor and smash.

Mr Arshad told The Falkirk Herald: “We aren’t happy at all.

“It’s totally an injustice. Being racist is a crime. She accused us of rape and there was vandalism and racism.

“Everything went into the bin. The compensation should be higher and she must be jailed.”

Procurator fiscal depute Rachel Wallace told the court trouble began brewing when Fowler grew impatient over a food order she had placed.

Ms Wallace said: “She became aggressive asking for the food. She went to collect it and immediately threw the entire container up into the air.

“The accused then punched the electronic point of sale system, causing it to break. She continued to shout ‘Where’s my food?’”

A staff member handed over the original food box which Fowler again lobbed into the air before falsely claiming staff had raped her.

Ms Wallace continued: “The accused then picked up a charity collection tin and struck the witness on the head.

“This caused him to sustain a minor lump to his head which didn’t require any medical attention. The accused then began removing items of her upper clothing while again shouting ‘You raped me’.

“One witness contacted police. The accused began pulling on the glass display case and managed to pull another glass case off the unit.”

Police arrived a short time later and found two bank cards Fowler had dropped as she fled the scene.

Defence solicitor Allana Turley said her client had gone to a pub on July 21 after a hospital visit to see her son who had broken his back. She also said Fowler had shown “genuine remorse and regret”.

The solicitor told Sheriff Keith O’Mahony her client was on benefits and would struggle to pay a hefty compensation fee, suggesting Fowler would instead benefit from supervision and counselling for alcohol abuse.

Sheriff O’Mahoney told Fowler she was on the “borderline” of a custodial sentence and, as a direct alternative to imprisonment, placed her under supervision for two years, during which time she must undertake alcohol counselling and pay £400 in compensation.

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