A TERRIFIED nurse was forced to vomit in the street after she was assaulted by a drunk Dunbar man as she travelled home from work on a bus.

Joe Galbraith grabbed the medic around the waist and repeatedly attempted to kiss her as she made her way home from a shift at an Edinburgh hospital.

Galbraith, of Brodie Road, was with a group of friends when he carried out the “shameful” assault on the woman during the journey between the Capital and Dunbar last year.

The drunken man was originally charged with sexually assaulting the nurse but he admitted to an amended charge of assault when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday (Thursday).

Sheriff Douglas Keir told 21-year-old Galbraith that he had carried out “a very disturbing” attack which had caused the woman “substantial distress”.

Prosecutor Clare Kennedy told the court that the nurse had just finished a long work shift and was sitting on the X7 East Coast bus travelling from Edinburgh to Dunbar at about 10pm on October 5 last year.

Ms Kennedy said: “Mr Galbraith boarded the bus with some friends. The woman was sat at a window seat and Mr Galbraith took the empty seat next to her.

“He was under the influence of alcohol and he had a bottle of alcohol with him on the bus. Mr Galbraith’s behaviour was very boisterous.

“He spoke to the woman and at some point during the journey he placed his hand around her waist and repeatedly leaned in and attempted to kiss her neck.”

The fiscal said that Galbraith was “laughing and joking” during the assault but said the woman found the attention to be “extremely upsetting”.

The nurse then contacted her partner by text and he met her when she eventually made her way from the bus.

Ms Kennedy added: “When she got off the bus she was so upset at what had happened she was physically sick in the street.”

The nurse’s partner subsequently contacted the police to report the attack.

Solicitor Andrew Docherty said that his client, who works as a full-time kitchen assistant, had been out in Edinburgh with friends and had been drinking vodka most of the evening.

Mr Docherty said: “He had drunk to excess. He has little to no memory of the incident.

“He is extremely embarrassed and ashamed by his behaviour.

“His mother is also very embarrassed and he knows his behaviour was not appropriate.”

In sentencing, Sheriff Keir said: “ This was a very disturbing incident. You caused substantial distress to [the woman].

“Your behaviour that night was quite shameful – your mother has every right to be embarrassed by your actions.”

Galbraith was fined £720.

Galbraith pleaded guilty to an amended charge of assaulting a woman by placing his hand around her waist and repeatedly attempting to kiss her on the neck during the course of a bus journey between Edinburgh and Dunbar on October 5 last year.