Police step up patrols at Angus cemetery in hunt for sex offender

Latest incidents include man urinating in front of young girls

“Given the similarity between these incidents, we believe they are all linked. POLICE SCOTLAND SPOKESPERSON

Police have stepped up patrols around Arbroath Eastern Cemetery amid concerns a sex offender is operating there.

In separate incidents last week, the suspect urinated in front of two young girls and then exposed himself to a female dog walker.

Police believe the crimes are linked and could have been carried out by the same man, who is believed to be responsible for a number of incidents over several weeks.

The hunt is centred on a suspect described as being around 5ft 8ins and of stocky build.

In the latest incidents, he was wearing a dark beanie hat and dark clothing.

Those took place on September 15, the first involving two 11-year-old girls just before 6.30pm.

The man spoke briefly to the girls before urinating in front of them.

Shortly before midnight on the same day, a female dog walker saw a man standing inside the cemetery grounds, exposing himself.

Police said the incident caused the victim “considerable alarm”.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We have also received reports of other similar incidents in the cemetery going back as far as August, with a man approaching young people and after speaking briefly to them, urinating in bushes or in front of them.

“Given the similarity between these incidents, we believe they are all linked.

“It is possible that there have been other incidents of this nature which we have not been informed of, as some of these incidents were reported to us quite some time after they took place.

“Officers have been carrying out patrols of the cemetery and surrounding area and will continue to do so.

“If you should be approached by anyone matching the description above or in similar circumstances, please let us know immediately.”

Information can be given by contacting 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

In another incident at the end of last month, a family said they had been left “sick to their stomach” after a man exposed himself to a seven-year-old and her friend not far from Eastern Cemetery. The man fled in a white van.