CRACK ADDICT STOLE FIFE 10-YEAR-OLD’S PIZZA CASH AND BOOTED HIS HEAD
A 10-year-old’s Saturday night pizza plan was ruined when a crack addict stole his money, pushed him from his scooter and kicked him in the head on a Fife street.Nicodem Nacel, 31, turned violent after picking up a banknote the primary school pupil dropped on his way to Pizza Hut.
Staff at the nearby Greens supermarket heard Nacel attack the boy on St Clair Street in Kirkcaldy.
A sheriff told Nacel he could see no option but imprisonment.
Attacked child Prosecutor Sarah Smith told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court: “At 6.30pm on September 7 2024, the witness, then aged 10, left home on his scooter in possession of five £10 notes.
“He intended to take the short trip to Pizza Hut and Greens.” As the boy passed Greens, he dropped one of the notes and Nacel picked it up.
The boy followed him to get his money back but Nacel became violent.
He pulled him off the scooter and pushed and pulled him, causing him to fall.
Staff at Greens heard the boy crying and shouting.
Before Nacel fled on foot, he kicked his young victim’s head.
The “terrified and crying” boy initially chased him but was taken into Greens by staff, who looked after him until he went to a relative’s house.
When police quizzed Nacel, he admitted there had been a confrontation.
Clouded by crack Nacel, of Kirkcaldy, attended court with a holdall prepared for prison when he tendered pleas of guilty to assaulting the child and stealing £10.
He admitted seizing the boy by the body, shaking him, pulling his arms causing him to fall and kicking his head while he lay on the ground.
Defending, solicitor David McLaughlin said: “It’s a terribly serious incident, Mr Nacel is aware of that.
“It occurred at a time when Mr Nacel was in the throes of a crack cocaine addiction.
His judgement was significantly impaired because of that.” Mr McLaughlin explained his client is currently on a court-imposed drug treatment and testing order (DTTO) and has previous convictions for possessing cocaine and driving while unfit through drink or drugs.
Sheriff Robert More deferred sentencing until later this month and ordered background reports.
Continuing bail, he said: “I can’t see, at the moment, how this can be dealt with except by way of imprisonment, just given the sheer gravity of the case.
You’re on a DTTO, these cost a lot of public money.
There is going to require to be some robust alternative if imprisonment is going to be avoided at all.”
