An Aberdeenshire man who started swinging a baseball bat in the car park of a supermarket has been told to carry out unpaid work. Richard Kearney stood trial at Peterhead Sheriff Court last month, where he was found guilty of two charges relating to the brawl on November 1 2024. Baseball bat used in fracasKearney, whose address was given as New Fedderate Cottages in Maud, had claimed he was acting in self-defence when he met his victim in Ellon. He told the court Kearney would follow them and then exit his own car with a baseball bat in hand. “He understands that.”Custody not ‘most effective’ punishmentSentencing him, Sheriff Alan Sinclair said Kearney’s offending was “serious” in imposing the hours of unpaid work.