Published: Wednesday, 26th May, 2010 2:05pm

Drunk man attacked boy

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A MAN who was drunk when he chased and then assaulted a schoolboy has escaped a jail term.

Krystian Chudziak, 33, and two other men went in pursuit of the 11-year-old victim and his pals when they thought the young boys had damaged their property, Paisley Sheriff Court heard last week.

The trio chased the boys in a car along Waulkmill Avenue and into the garden of a property on the street.

The court heard how some of the terrified kids scarpered over a fence and into an alley but the boy hid under a hut.

Chudziak found the boy and after shouting at him to come out, he leaned down and pulled the youngster out by the shoulders and dragged him through the garden.

The schoolboy told the court the three men blamed him for throwing stones at their property.

But the boy denied this and insisted he and his friends did not know what they were talking about.

Giving evidence from behind a screen in the courtroom the boy said: "We got blamed for hitting a window so we just ran anyway, they were saying they were going to phone the police but we didn't see anybody hit a window.

"We started running because they were chasing us.

"They must have run back and got their car because they started chasing after us in a car."

He added: "I hid under a hut and the guy ran round the hut trying to find me.

"He ended up stopping and looking under the hut and pulled me out by the shoulders and I banged my head on the concrete."

One witness told the court how she heard a disturbance outside her house.

She said: "I heard shouting and thought it was someone who was drunk.

"I got up and went to the window and saw a grown man assaulting a wee boy.

"That's when I opened the window and shouted for them to leave the wee boy alone.

"The one who assaulted the boy was very, very angry."

She then went outside and claims the men were staggering about and she could smell alcohol on Mr Chudziak.

One of the three men was heard to tell Chudziak to leave the boy alone.

The witness said she then called on the boy's mum and went round to Chudziak's home in nearby Stewart Street.

He came to the door 'ranting and raving' so they decided to leave.

Chudziak was found guilty of assaulting the 11-year-old boy by pulling him on the body and pulling him along the ground at Waulkmill Avenue on March 28, this year.

Ms Murphy, Chudziak's defence agent, said her client is currently self-employed in the construction industry and admitted he was drinking alcohol during the course of the day and that had clouded his judgement.

She said he is originally from Poland but has been living in this country for five years and although he has no family here, regards Scotland as his home.

Sentencing, the sheriff said: "I am imposing lenient penalties on you considering this involves the assault of an 11-year-old boy.

"Something happened which caused you to go in pursuit of the children, whether they were the right people to pursue is neither here nor there.

"The right course of action would have been to contact the police.

"You can't take the law into your own hands.

"You can't act towards children with this type of behaviour.

"Your action of pulling the boy from the shed does constitute an assault."

Chudziak was ordered to pay a £100 compensation order and a £100 fine which he agreed to pay at £5 per week.

Chudziak had previously appeared in court on the charges with Bartlomiej Kijewski, 29, of Fairley Street, Glasgow, but the charges against him were dropped by the Crown.