A bar boss has spoken of her “absolute nightmare” at being told she may have committed a crime by posting an “indecent” video of two people apparently having sex in her pub.
Michelle Ward, the owner of Number 44 Hotel and Bar in Stonehaven, has been spoken to by police officers and had her mobile phone “confiscated” as they investigate any potential crimes.
Michelle says that the man in the video has now spoken to the pub and apologised for his antics – and assured them it was only a lap dance, not sex.
She says she has accepted his apology and wishes for no further action to be taken.
But her appeal on social media to track down the passionate pair appears to have backfired.
Michelle said: “The police are saying that I’ve committed a crime by posting the video.
“I just made the post so that someone would tell me who the people were and then it was my intention to report them to the police.
“When the police arrived, I said ‘the boy’s apologised so I’m quite happy to leave it at that’ but the police said it wasn’t up to me”.
In Scotland, it’s considered an offence to engage in “indecent conduct” in a public place or to be seen from one.
A CCTV camera had captured the man and a woman appearing to get intimate with each other while sat at a table inside Number 44 on Sunday night.
“It was over within two minutes,” Michelle said.
She said that the man and the woman – who Michelle was told is a professional lapdancer – were in the bar for no more than 15 minutes.
The pair arrived along with three others, including the man’s mother.
Michelle said: “The man came in and he didn’t have his t-shirt on and the bar staff said to him ‘you’ll need to put your t-shirt on’.
“He said: ‘yeah, I’ve got it in my bag. I’ll open my bag when I get through to the lounge and I’ll put my t-shirt on’.
“When the mother went to the toilet, the woman started doing this lap dance.”
Michelle said the man was clothed from the waist down and the woman had on a sun dress.
Police enquiries are ‘ongoing’
A spokesperson for Police Scotland would not comment on what action has been taken so far but confirmed that “enquiries are ongoing into the incident”.
Michelle said that she isn’t able to access her business bank account without her mobile phone, which has been seized by investigators.
“This is an absolute nightmare from a business point of view,” she said.
“I feel like I’m the victim and now I find myself in trouble.
“We’ve had a really tough two years, barely surviving Covid, and when I saw that footage on Sunday night I thought ‘there goes my family-friendly venue that I’ve spent years building a reputation for.
“I certainly didn’t think I was breaking the law when I posted the video.”
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