Man denies peeping accusation

A man has denied peeking into a neighbour’s bedroom, after she videoed him ‘squatting’ in the undergrowth for 20 minutes, a trial at Oban Sheriff Court has heard.

Martin Scott, 38, of 6 Longsdale Crescent, Oban, pleaded not guilty to placing a female neighbour in a state of fear and alarm on March 27 this year, by concealing himself in the undergrowth outside her home, looking in her bedroom and, on being seen, crawling away on his hands and knees.

‘My cat was acting strangely,’ the woman told Oban Sheriff Court on Monday October 8 speaking through an interpreter.

‘My cat was looking like it was going to pounce on something that it had seen outside the window. Then, when I moved myself closer to see from the cat’s perspective, I saw something.

‘There was somebody sitting in the bushes and their face was covered. They were moving all the time. They were squatting and they were trying to look inside. I even saw their face before they realised I was recording them. Around 20 minutes I was recording it.’

The court was then shown the footage.

‘I was scared,’ she said. ‘The first person I tried to call was Martin Scott, because he was my neighbour. He was the first person that I could contact quickly. He is always home.’

‘Did he answer his phone?’ procurator fiscal Eoin McGinty asked.

‘No,’ she replied, ‘I called three times.’ She then called her partner, who came across town with a friend to the back of the house and spoke to the person.

‘When I shouted, “Who are you, what are you doing here?”, he said, “I am just going out for a walk.” I said this is strange, what are you doing here? He then responded, “It is me, Martin”.’

Mr McGinty inquired: ‘If we hear Martin Scott was looking for skulls, was there anything to suggest he was looking for skulls?’

The woman replied: ‘He was sitting in the same spot all the time and he was peeking through the bushes.’

Scott’s defence agent Laura McManus asked: ‘Perhaps Mr Scott was tying his boot, fixing his laces. Would you agree with that?’

‘No,’ she replied.

The woman’s partner told the court: ‘Their face was covered. They were wearing a hat as well. After speaking to the person, he stated his name. I said it was very strange he was there. [He said] that he was just out for a walk.’

The case continues on November 7.