A workman attacked his former boss in a row over wages that were being withheld.

Sean Shields was furious that he still did not have £2000 owed to him, three weeks after leaving his old job.

He tracked down his ex-employer in Culross and began punching him.

As a result, 38-year-old Shields, of The Braes, Tullibody, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

He admitted that on December 4 at Burnside Cottage, Balgownie, Culross, he assaulted a man by seizing him by the clothing and repeatedly punching him on the head to his injury.

Depute fiscal Amy Robertson said there was a dispute between Shields and his former employer over unpaid wages.

Shields had moved to a new job and was owed money but his former boss said there were some matters which had to be investigated first. He said he would have to withhold the money “until these issues were resolved”.

Three weeks after he had left, Shields went looking to find his ex-boss and confront him over the missing money.

The man was working with three employees when Shields arrived in a pick-up truck belonging to his new employer. He grabbed the man by the clothing and pushed him against a garage door. He then began to punch his former employer on the head, which resulted in bruising.

Defence solicitor Stephen Morrison said: “He acted out of frustration over £2000 that was owed to him.

“The alleged issue was a suggestion that some tools had gone missing. He’d told his former employer that these tools were inside a works van and he had dropped it off with a colleague when he left that job.

“He thought he was being messed about and was becoming anxious as Christmas was looming and he has children. The money was provided shortly afterwards.”

Sheriff Francis Gill fined Shields £385 and ordered him to pay £350 compensation to the victim.