Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
DEVIANT DRIVING INSTRUCTOR MADE MY LIFE HELL
Pervert guilty of groping teenage girls’ breasts and making repeated sexual remarks
A brave Airdrie teenager has branded the driving instructor who sexually assaulted her and another young woman a “sick pervert”.
Despicable Garry Landles, 56, was found guilty of touching his victims’ breasts and repeatedly uttering repulsive sexual remarks while abusing his position of trust.
Grandfather Landles, of Braedale Avenue, Gartlea, had denied assaulting the petrified teenagers but was convicteded following a trial.
Last Wednesday at Airdrie Sheriff Court, he was ordered to pay both women £1200 each in compensation and placed on the sex offenders’ register for two years. He is also no longer approved or registered with the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency.
One of his victims – who was just 18 at the time of the attack – sobbed as she told the Advertiser: “Landles is a sick pervert who should have been jailed for what he put me through.”
“I regret ever setting foot in his car.”
The father of an Airdrie teenager who was sexually assaulted by her driving instructor has told of the devastating impact the crime has had on his family.
Last week Garry Landles, 56, was sentenced for carrying out the sickening 2015 assault on the young woman, who was just 18 at the time.
He was also punished for a similar attack on another teenage girl in 2008.
The distraught dad of Landles’ more recent victim – who cannot be named for legal reasons – said that despite the conviction, his daughter has suffered a string of emotional setbacks and admits that it will take a long time for her to come to terms with what happened.
He told the Advertiser: “This was an absolute breach of trust.
“Landles has been a driving instructor for more than a decade.
“He tries to pass himself off as a pillar of the community but in actual fact he’s a sexual deviant who prays on teenage girls.
“Myself, my wife and most importantly of all, my daughter, placed our trust in this man and look how we were rewarded.”
The furious father continued: “My daughter has gone from a normal happy-go-lucky teenager to a young woman who needs counselling and medication for what he put her through.”
Landles, who is a grandfather, had pleaded his innocence against the charges levelled at him, but was found guilty following a trial in July. An event his young victim’s dad couldn’t bring himself to attend.
He explained: “I was so angry that I couldn’t summon the resolve to enter the courtroom and listen to this man’s lies about my daughter and this other young woman.
“Fortunately my wife had more courage than me and endured the whole trial.
“And while we’re satisfied that, in the eyes of the law he has been proven guilty, we’re dissatisfied with his sentence.
“Landles should have been jailed for his crimes.”
Landles, of Gartlea, was found guilty of touching his victims’ breasts and repeatedly uttering repulsive sexual remarks to them.
His first teenage victim was driving under his tutelage on Commonside Street in Airdrie and Lefroy Street, Coatbridge, in October 2008, when Landles pulled her clothing and repeatedly touched her breasts over her top.
Seven years later – on October 5 last year – Landles placed his hand under the second young woman’s clothing, handled her breasts over her bra and refused to remove his hand when his shocked and frightened victim asked him to do so.
Following a deferral for reports into his background, Landles returned to the dock last Wednesday.
Presiding sheri f f, Sara Matheson, placed Landles on the sex offenders’ register for the next two years and imposed a rehabilitation and supervisory order for the duration of his time on the register.
Sheriff Matheson told Landles he would have to pay each of his victims £ 1200 and placed him under a community payback order with 240 hours’ unpaid work, as a direct alternative to time in prison.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency ( DVSA) yesterday confirmed that Landles was no longer on its approved list of driving instructors and cannot take payment for lessons.
My daughter went from a happy-go-lucky teenager to needing medication and counselling