An Aberdeenshire joiner has been fined after he was caught on a customer’s CCTV camera sexually thrusting his hips on her living room floor.
Andrew Milne, 39, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted a charge of public indecency after he was caught undoing his belt and carrying out the sexual act for around five minutes.
Milne’s actions – which were described as “disgusting” by a sheriff – were only discovered when the woman’s 18-year-old daughter happened to check the home’s security camera footage.
CCTV revealed shocking behaviour
Fiscal depute Claire Stewart told the court that on February 21 this year Milne was hired to carry out work at the house in Aboyne where the homeowner lived with her two daughters.
At 8am Milne and his apprentice arrived to begin work, with the homeowner informing them about an hour later that she had to go out but that her daughter was upstairs.
The woman’s daughter went downstairs at around 10am to use the toilet where she saw Milne hard at work.
A while later, when she could not hear activity downstairs, she decided to check the living room camera that is normally used to observe the family’s dog when no one was home.
Puzzled as to why it had been turned to face the ceiling, she rewound the footage to see what had happened.
Joiner was ‘humping the floor’
Ms Stewart said: “When she checked the previous footage, she saw the accused lying on the living room floor then rolling onto his side away from the camera where he undid his belt.
“He then rolled back onto his stomach where she formed the opinion that he was humping the floor.
“She saw him move his hips up and down for around five minutes before stopping, standing up and fastening his belt.
“It was then he appeared to notice the camera.”
Ms Stewart said the young woman was “shocked and alarmed” by what she had witnessed and called her mum.
The police were then contacted.
In the dock, Milne pleaded guilty to one charge of public indecency by rubbing his private parts in a customer’s home.
‘Deeply ashamed and embarrassed’
Defence solicitor Ian Woodward-Nutt told the court his client had “never been in any trouble before” and was “deeply ashamed and embarrassed”.
He added that Milne gave a “full and frank account” of what went on when he was interviewed by police.
“Mr Milne attended to carry out work in the living room of this property,” the solicitor said.
“Those works stopped for a tea break and his apprentice took his tea break in the works van, leaving Mr Milne alone in the living room.
“He had no idea as to the existence of a camera and, quite simply, if he had been aware of the likelihood of him being seen he would never have behaved in this way.”
‘Full and sincere public apology’ to teenager
Mr Woodward-Nutt told the court that, at some point, Milne’s thoughts “turned to his girlfriend” and that “during that brief period he behaved in the manner libelled”.
“It was only at that stage did he look around and saw, to his horror, a camera in the room,” he said, adding that his client wanted to extend a “full and sincere public apology” to the 18-year-old woman involved.
Sheriff Lesley Johnston told Milne that he had “quite rightly” expressed embarrassment and shame in relation to this offence.
“Your actions on this date, which took place in another person’s home, are disgusting,” she told him.
Due to this being his first criminal offence, Sheriff Johnston fined Milne, of Kingsfield Road, Kintore, a total of £790.
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