Driver exposed himself to girls across Wishaw

A driver exposed himself to young girls after asking them for directions to University HospitalWishaw.

SamuelCowan,39,wasplacedonthesexoffenders’ register for three years when he appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Friday.

He must also attend the“Moving Forward, Making Changes”programme for offenders.

Cowan, of Lanark, admitted exposing himself to two girls, one aged under 13 and one under 16, in October.

He also admitted failing to provide a breath test after police tracked him down.

Mairi-Clare McMillan, prosecuting, said the exposure incidents happened within 15 minutes in the early evening.

Cowan’s car first pulled alongside a girl who was walking with a friend in Castlehill Road,Wishaw.

He was alone in the vehicle and the passenger window was rolled down.

Cowan asked for directions to the hospital and when the girl approached to tell him she noticed he was exposing himself.

A similar incident then happened in Netherton Street. Again, Cowan targeted a girl who was walking with a friend.

Police later stopped him as he drove towards Lanark.They detected a smell of alcohol and a roadside breath test showed he was nearly double the drink limit.

Cowan refused to give another sample of breath at Motherwell Police Station, saying he wanted to take a blood test instead.

Defence agentVincent McGovern admitted a prison sentence would be“entirely justifiable”.

Cowan had been assessed by social workers as at high risk of further sexual offending.

However, Mr McGovern suggested a supervision order would give the public longer protection than a jail term that would keep him away from the community for only a matter of months.

The solicitor stated:“He accepts his guilt and accepts he has a problem.This caused great upset to the girls involved.”

Sheriff Colin Dunipace told Cowan jail had been “uppermost in my mind”, but a three-year community payback order would mean“steps can be taken to prevent further offending”.

The sheriff also ordered him to do 200 hours of unpaid community work and tagged him for four months, meaning he can’t leave his home between 7pmand7ameachday.

Cowan, who has two previous convictions for drink-driving, was banned from driving for five years.