Community service for ice cream van man

Tuesday 21 August 2018

The ice cream man from the familiar ice cream truck situated at Havelet has has been sentenced to 120 hours of community service for assaulting a 12-year-old boy while he was working.

Alan Donaldson, 58, was sentenced yesterday to the charge of assault on a minor at the Magistrate's Court. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered a broken tooth. However the court heard that this was an out of character event for a "friendly man who has good rapport with the children."

The full facts of the case were outlined by the prosecution who told the court that at around 15:30 on Saturday 25 July 2018 a boy had asked Mr Donaldson for a free ice cream. When Donaldson replied "no" he then asked if he could pull the Mr Whippy machine. Donaldson said: "Yes, if you want a smack."

At this point the boy leant into the ice cream van and pulled down the lever of the Mr Whippy machine. As a reaction Donaldson hit out with his fists clenched, making contact to the left side of the boy's face.

Straight away Donaldson told the boy he didn't mean to hit him and that he thought he was further away than he was and that he had only meant to frighten the boy. The boy told his mother what had happened, showing her his injury which was a broken tooth which left roots in his gum.

Pictured: Entrance to the Court.

The prosecution further stated that a quantity of ice cream had been deposited on the floor of the van and it was said that Donaldson was immediately remorseful for his actions.

In his defence the court heard how Donaldson handed himself in and made full admissions. On the day in question his usual van had broken down and the cooling system in the replacement van was not working, this meant conditions inside were around 30 degrees as it was a nice day. Due to the good weather Donaldson was very busy selling ice creams. 

The facts stated by the prosecution were not disputed, but it was pointed out that the pulling mechanism on the Mr Whippy machine was not like a pint lever, which would cut out, and therefore a significant amount of ice cream came out of the machine and flooded the floor of the van. Donaldson was instantly shocked by his reaction and said he had not meant to do it. It was described as a one off and totally out of character. The court heard that Donaldson was very used to dealing with boisterous kids and was so shocked by his actions that he had sought medical help.

Comments on social media in response to initial reports of the incident were mentioned where many people had described Donaldson as a "friendly man with a good rapport with children" and it was also noted that many people had gone to the van in support of Donaldson. The court heard he had a lot of support locally as he was well respected. Reference letters and a note from his doctor were handed to the judge and it was further stated that the defendant had never done anything like this before. The business is his livelihood and during the event he lost a lot of stock as a result of this incident.

In sentencing Judge McKerrell gave Donaldson full credit for his guilty plea and said that he was treating him as a person of previous good character as confirmed by the letters of support that he had received.

He went on to address Donaldson saying that it may have been a stressful day, but none of that excuses what happened and no circumstances should have meant that events turned out the way they did. 

He further stated that whilst he believed it was a one off aberration on his part the court had to mark the seriousness of this as "you cannot just go round hitting 12 year old boys."

Donaldson was given 120 hours of community service.

Pictured: Alan Donaldson outside his ice cream van at Havelet.