AN ARDROSSAN grandfather at the end of his tether wiped cat faeces on a young girl's face who had allegedly been bullying his teenage granddaughter, a court was told.

The 63-year-old pleaded guilty to the single charge of assault last week.

Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard on Thursday (March 16) that ‘bullies’ who targeted the man's granddaughter came to his home on February 17 in an attempt to lure her out of the house – which she lived in at the time of the offence.

The court was told this was the third time within a week that the teens had visited the property in the Chapelhill Mount area.

The procurator fiscal depute said screaming and shouting could be heard coming from the street outside the home at around 5.30pm, and the group of teenagers were trying to entice the youngster to come out.

The fiscal depute said: "Upset at the situation, the accused made his way into the kitchen, got cat faeces from his pet's litter tray and made his way out."

At this point, the police had already arrived at the scene, after they had been phoned by a third party.

The fiscal depute said: "He walked up to the complainer and wiped a tissue over her mouth and face.

"When asked by officers what he was doing, the man stated 'I'm just wiping her nose'."

Police asked what was in the tissue and he answered: "Cat s**t."

The fiscal depute added: "The smell was noticeable and the complainer began to shake, violently wretch and cry."

The man was later arrested and charged by police.

Describing the incident as "the straw that broke the camel's back", defence solicitor Brian Holliman said his client's granddaughter was being bullied at home and at school by other girls in the same year as her.

Mr Holliman said: "Bullying and the attendance of other children at his home had been going on for around nine months.

"He entirely accepts that he should have dealt with this situation differently.

"Police had been called out three times in the week leading up to the incident."

Sheriff George Jamieson called the offence "a particularly nasty form of retaliation" and fined the man £340, payable at a rate of £10 per week.