Angered to find the price of a reserved television had risen, Gordon Taylor accused supermarket staff of being useless, demanding to speak the manager.
He then “squared up” to the manager and pushed him on the chest with both hands.
Taylor, 49, of Killiecroft, Tweedbank, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at the Tesco store in Paton Street, Galashiels, on October 1.
Prosecuting, Kate McGarvey told Monday’s sitting of Selkirk Sheriff Court how Taylor went to the supermarket at 12.30pm to collect a television.
“It was more expensive than when he had reserved it, and he became aggressive and asked to speak to the manager,” explained Ms McGarvey.
Told that the manager would speak to him when free, Taylor said that when he got hold of the member of staff who had dealt with the original order, he would grab him by the throat. Taylor shouted at the manager and continued with his aggressive behaviour.
“He referred to staff as f*****g useless monkeys,” continued Ms McGarvey.
He was asked to leave the store, and retorted: “What are you going to do about it?”
Ms McGarvey said: “He then squared up to the manager and pushed him on the chest with both hands. He was told that he was going to phone the police, and the accused said, ‘Do you think I’m f*****g scared of the police?’.”
Defending, Ross Dow said his client was embarrassed about his behaviour and wished to make a public apology.
Mr Dow went on: “He reserved a television two days earlier and when he went to pick it up, the price had gone up considerably.
“He began talking to a member of staff in a civilised manner, but he felt the member of staff wasn’t interested, so he asked to speak to the manager. He then became frustrated by their disinterest in the whole situation.” Mr Dow said Taylor had commented: “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”, adding: “He accepts he completely overreacted.”
Fining Taylor £280 and banning him from the store for three months, Sheriff Kevin Drummond said: “For your medical problems, you are due every sympathy, but that does not entitle you to take out your frustration on people serving the public.”