A former bus driver who exposed himself outside a north-east military museum has been spared jail.
Douglas Brown was found guilty last month of two charges of indecent exposure, but still denies them.
Yesterday, Sheriff Malcolm Garden said he had no option but to punish the 67-year-old more severely as a result, put him on a one-year supervision order while also ordering him to carry out unpaid work.
Brown had dropped a group of schoolchildren off at the Gordon Highlanders Museum before flashing at two women on November 2 last year.
In another incident, a dog walker spotted him exposing himself at an address in Aberdeenshire in 2012.
Social workers had suggested the chances of Brown reoffending were low, but Sheriff Garden was unconvinced.
He told him yesterday: “I am concerned that you are still denying these matters when you are clearly wrong.
“The witnesses were clear with what they saw. I therefore disagree with the report. Someone who is in denial is more at risk of doing it again than someone who accepts responsibility.”
Brown, of Cheshunt Walk, Ellon, was convicted after a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last month.
Two witnesses described seeing him exposing himself outside the museum after dropping the children off, while another said she had seen him on the steps of the bus with his trousers open, “laughing”.
And the woman who caught him in the act while she walked her dog told the court: “It was just such a shock, I did not know what to do.”
She also said Brown was staring at her with a “huge grin” on his face.
Defence agent Ian Woodward-Nutt told the court: “He has now given up working and won’t work again due to significant health problems.
“He has never before been in trouble. The report indicates the risk of him reoffending is low. This process has caused a high amount of stress, both to him and his wife.”
Brown was handed a one year supervision order and 50 hours of unpaid work.
