A MAN has been fined after trying to fight with a prison officer following a dispute over a Mars Bar.

Thomas George Lewis, of Ford Crescent in Stevenston, appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week and pled guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner on June 15.

The court heard that Lewis had been visiting a prisoner at HMP Kilmarnock when a matter arose and he was asked to leave.

Lewis, 26, then became aggressive to a prison officer and challenged him to a fight outside the building.

Defending Lewis, solicitor Graeme Cunningham said that tensions had arisen following a misunderstanding about a Mars Bar.

Mr Cunningham said: “He was going to visit a friend and was in the company of another friend.

“They had purchased a Mars Bar from the prison canteen and he passed that to another visitor. That is what caused the dispute between him and the staff because they did not know where that confection came from. Although it was purchased from the prison premises, it could have been contaminated.

“He purchased another Mars Bar and tried to give it to another visitor and that’s when the officer [whom he challenged to a fight] got involved and asked him to leave.

“He should have taken a telling. He should have let it lie at the time. He should have not purchased another Mars Bar.”

Mr Cunningham added that Lewis was in full time employment and had offered to pay a fine at £25 per week.

Sheriff Craig Harris told Lewis: “Where this happened is indeed the aggravating factor. Any level of disturbance in a prison is a concern.

“Prison staff should be able to carry out their duties and you deprived them of that for a time.”

Lewis was fined £400, reduced from £600 due to his guilty plea.