Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Couple fined for open-air liaison
A couple convicted of public indecency were fined after having sex in a communal garden in Forfar.
Kirsty Jones, 34, and sex offender Clive Weatherhogg, 49, are moving home, Forfar Sheriff Court was told, due to the “humiliation” they felt after their neighbours gave evidence.
The liaison happened in the Fruithill area on March 25.
The accused pair claimed Jones was sunbathing in a small, lightcoloured bikini and Weatherhogg had dropped down to cuddle her.
They said his jeans had possibly slipped after he unbuckled his belt due to stomach pain.
Sheriff Derek Reekie rejected this defence at a trial earlier this year.
Neighbours told how they clearly saw the couple having sex on a sun lounger in the garden
One said: “She was naked. He had a top on – his jeans were down to his ankles.
“Her legs were in the air and his bum was going up and down.”
When asked by depute fiscal Matthew Kerr how many times she saw Weatherhogg’s “bum go up and down,” she replied: “I didn’t count. More than once.”
She said she was so shocked she called her neighbour to verify what she was seeing – which she did.
She explained both witnesses had a “running commentary” over the phone as the co-accuseds continued.
In mitigation for Jones, solicitor Nicola Brown said: “You can see this is a woman of intellect.
“She is not currently working.” Ms Brown complained the reporting of the case had been embarrassing for her client.
But Sheriff Reekie said the pair had “brought it on themselves” for breaking the law.
Ian Houston, in mitigation for Weatherhogg, said: “(This prosecution) is more damaging than any sentence your lordship could impose. This case has caused considerable embarrassment and humiliation.”
Fining Weatherhogg £590 and Jones £295, Sheriff Reekie said: “You brought this on yourself. You feel embarrassment and shame and there is no-one else to blame.”