A GP was beaten up by young thugs in a vicious racist attack as he left his medical practice.
The doctor, of Pakistani descent, was repeatedly punched and told to “go back to your country” as he went to a nearby shop after his 12-hour shift.
Osama Farooq had only started working at the practice in High Valleyfield two weeks before the incident.
He quit the practice as a result of the assault saying he did not feel safe working there.
His attacker was 19-year-old Lee Dackers and a younger accomplice.
Dackers, of Chapel Street, High Valleyfield, walked free after appearing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court. He avoided a custodial sentence and was ordered to do unpaid work instead.
He admitted that on April 24 last year at Chapel Street, near to the High Valleyfield Medical Centre, whilst acting with another, he assaulted Osama Farooq by seizing him on the body and repeatedly punching him on the head and body, all to his injury.
He also admitted acting in a racially aggravated manner by shouting, swearing and repeatedly making offensive remarks and threats of violence towards Dr Farooq.
Depute fiscal Amy Robertson said that at around 7pm the doctor had just finished his shift and had gone to a nearby Co-op store to buy items for the journey home.
The doctor heard Dackers making a racist comment as he stood outside the shop.
He told Dackers he was a doctor who had just finished a 12-hour shift at the medical practice.
Dackers said “he couldn’t care less about that, that it was their community and he should go home” added the depute.
Other comments made included, “Go back to your own country. No-one asked you to come here” and “You black P*** b******. Come on, then I’ll f****** knife ye.”
Dackers grabbed the doctor by the waist and began to strike him on the head and body, as did his young companion.
Dackers then tried to drag the doctor into a bush, continuing to punch him as he did so.
A Co-op worker came outside to see what was happening and a passer-by shouted to Dackers: “That’s a f****** doctor”.
There was no response from Dackers, who continued to make racist comments.
A female witness handed the doctor his stethoscope which had fallen to the ground during the attack.
Dr Farooq sustained cuts to his abdomen and thigh as well as bruising.
The doctor has since left the practice saying he no longer felt safe in High Valleyfield, added the depute.
The court was told Dackers had been drinking alcohol before the incident.
Defence solicitor Chris Sneddon said his client had no previous convictions and the assault was “out of character”.
Sheriff Krista Johnston said the target of the attack was “a person so valuable in the community”.
She told Dackers: “That makes you a disgrace to your community.”
She said he had “narrowly escaped going to detention”.
Instead, she imposed a community payback order with 200 hours of unpaid work and a year’s supervision.
She also ordered Dackers to write a letter of apology to the doctor and bring it to court when his order is reviewed.
It is understood the younger assailant was dealt with through the children’s panel system.
The High Valleyfield medical centre has been plagued with problems in recent years linked to a shortage of GPs.
