A 64-year-old man who stroked a teenager’s thigh as she sat next to him on a bus has been ordered to complete unpaid work in the community.
Duncan Morrison will also remain on the sex offenders register for a year after he admitted a charge of sexual assault on the 15-year-old, who he signalled to sit in an empty seat beside him before touching her leg.
When he began to move his hand up her thigh, the girl looked about “panicked” and another passenger stepped in, shouting at Morrison to stop.
The resourceful teen managed to snap a picture of Morrison on her mobile phone before he got off the bus and the matter was later reported to police.
Morrison appeared at Tain Sheriff Court to be sentenced for the crime, which took place on January 6 of last year.
Teen’s leg stroked in bus assault
At an earlier hearing fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh said the victim and her boyfriend were on the X25 bus, which left Inverness at 6.45pm and travelled to Invergordon.
The bus driver noted Morrison “appeared intoxicated” when he boarded the same bus.
After the teenager’s boyfriend got off at his stop, she noticed a spillage on the floor and decided to move seats.
Morrison then “waved at her and indicated there was a spare seat next to him,” at which point “she sat next to him,” Ms Duffy-Welsh said.
He initially engaged the girl in conversation and asked her where she lived before he “moved his hand and stroked the complainer’s leg”.
“The accused continued to place his hand on her thigh, and moved his hand up to the top of her thigh,” the fiscal depute told Sheriff Neil Wilson.
‘I have no recollection of doing anything’
The girl looked around “panicked” and another passenger stood up and “saw the accused with his hand on her thigh”.
They shouted at the accused to “stop touching her or there would be trouble” at which point “the accused then moved his hand”.
The girl was “upset” by the assault and moved to a different seat for the rest of the journey.
She called her father to make him aware of the situation and used her mobile camera to take a picture of Morrison before he got off the bus in Invergordon.
The teenager was met at her bus stop by her father, who made the driver aware of the incident, which was later reported to police.
Morrison was traced and gave a no comment interview.
He told officers who charged him with sexual assault: “I have no recollection of doing anything to anyone.”
Solicitor John MacColl, for Morrison, told the earlier hearing the 64-year-old had travelled to Inverness for a hospital appointment before drinking in a pub near the bus station.
Bus assault accused was ‘under the influence’
Mr MacColl said Morrison was “under the influence of alcohol” and could not remember the events. He added that the conduct seemed to be “completely out of character”.
“He cannot explain his conduct, but does offer his unreserved apologies for the conduct he displayed on the bus,” Mr MacColl added.
At the sentencing hearing Sheriff Wilson told Morrison: “You got yourself into a state, you didn’t know what you were doing.”
He noted that a presentencing report did not feel it necessary that Morrison complete the Moving Forward Making Changes programmes, which is designed to address sexual offending.
Sheriff Wilson ordered Morrison to complete 180 hours of unpaid work in the community and placed him on the sex offenders register for a year.
