Braman cleared after appeal

A Rutherglen man who was convicted of a breach of the peace for wearing female underwear in his flat in full view of the public has had his conviction quashed.

David Wotherspoon, 41, had been charged with conducting himself in a disorderly manner at his Seafield Drive home on various occasions between January and August, 2015.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard he stood in his house in view of the public while wearing female underclothing – and on one occasion rubbed his nipples.

Wotherspoon was initially sentenced to a community payback order in August last year with a requirement of 18 months of supervision.

But three judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh have said his actions were not criminal.

Lord Carloway, the Lord Justice General, sitting with Lord Drummond Young and Lord Turnbull, ruled on the case yesterday, Tuesday.

They heard evidence that one person who spotted Wotherspoon felt“uneasy” and “concerned”but not “threatened.”

Another female who had

witnessed Wotherspoon’s behaviour, described it as being“strange”. Another woman who saw him said she found his manner had been“unsettling”.

The judges ruled:“The appellant’s conduct may have been exhibitionist, provocative and even perverse. None of these descriptions render it criminal.

“Although the wearing of clothing more suited to a different gender has been held to constitute a breach of the peace in certain circumstances, the court is unable to hold that a man wearing a bra in his own home amounts to conduct which is either genuinely alarming to any reasonable person, although it may be to some, or that it threatens serious disturbance to the community.”

The judges it had not been proved Wotherspoon had caused alarm.