A children's entertainer who plays Spider Man at kids parties was sentenced yesterday to carry out unpaid work - after getting drunk at a professional awards ceremony and committing a breach of the peace.
Gordon Fern, 34, had been at the ceremony on the evening of October 24 this year, getting home around midnight, Falkirk Sheriff Court was told.
Two children in the house were asleep, but his 31-year-old partner was awake, and heard him coming in "extremely boisterous and loud and shouting about winning something".
His partner got out of bed and went downstairs to ask him to calm down.
Prosecutor Ann Orr said: "She immediately realised he was extremely intoxicated.
"She asked him to be quiet for the children, but he immediately became annoyed at her, shouting 'oh aye, I'll just shut up then' and 'I don't f****** care'.
"She said if he didn't keep quiet the neighbours would phone the police but he continued shouting and swearing.
"The children woke up - at any rate the younger one did, and was upset and crying at the noise."
Fern went into the kitchen and began to drink more alcohol, and his partner again appealed for him to calm down.
He shouted back: "I don't give a f***."
Ms Orr said: "He then walked up to her, in her face, shouting 'get back to your f****** bed'.
"At this point she realised he wasn't going to calm down, so she contacted police."
At the same time a girl in the house said from the top of the stairs that she'd contacted her gran, and her aunt was coming.
Ms Orr said: "The aunt attended and they got the children ready to leave."
When officers arrived they found Fern's partner standing in the front driveway with the "upset" children, their aunt, and a car.
Fern then appeared in the garden, drinking a bottle of lager and "waving it around".
He began to shout at his partner: "Who's this then? Look who you've got to come here".
Ms Orr said it was by now "into the early hours".
Police asked Fern to put the bottle down but he told them: "You're not getting in here, get the f*** away".
As the officers approached him, his "shouting and swearing got worse" and he yelled: "Look what you've done you c**, this is your fault".
Police took hold of him but as they tried to put him in handcuffs he began to struggle, trying to tense his arms and wave them about.
Ms Orr said: "He continued to shout at his partner, blaming her for the police being there. Ultimately had to be taken to the ground to be controlled."
The court heard he was lashing around with his head, saying to the officers, one of whom was a female, "take the cuffs off and we'll see what happens".
At Falkirk Police Station, where he was kept for the rest of the night, "it was noted he appeared ashamed of his actions".
By 9.00 am, when he had sobered up, he said, "I'm an idiot".
Fern, of Falkirk, admitted domestically-aggravated statutory breach of the peace, and resisting police.
Stephen Biggam, defending, said Fern had been drinking on top of a "cocktail" of prescribed medication.
Mr Biggam said: "He told me he felt as if he had been spiked. With that combination of medication and alcohol you would feel like that.
"The way to avoid that is not to take alcohol, and he was capable of managing without that difficulty until he attended the awards event.
"Obviously with the success of the award, matters flowed freely.
"He spiked himself. He knows he shouldn't have taken alcohol but he did.
"Obviously he let the children down.
"He does take seriously his role as a children's entertainer.
"I think the legend that goes with the character talks about, 'with great power comes great responsibility'.
"I think he appreciates now, in the cold light of day, that this was something wholly avoidable."
Mr Biggam added that the latest coronavirus guidance was affecting Fern's business.
He said: "There are issues regarding his ability to continue his line of work."
Sheriff Derek Livingston ordered him to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work.
He said: "A financial penalty is not on. The main victims were his family, and I'm not going to punish them a second time by effectively reducing the household income.
"I've seen various emails which say that he's of good character. This was after an awards function, from what I've read."
Fern refused to comment leaving court.
He told a reporter: "I don't need to speak to you."
