A man who touched and kissed women on the streets of Inverness has been spared jail.
Paul Erwin accosted one woman on the Raining’s Stairs – putting his arm around her and telling her she was a “good-looking woman”.
He followed another woman to her car before kissing her on the hand.
Erwin, 48, walked with a third woman for “a considerable period of time” before hugging and kissing her
He appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court this week for sentencing having previously admitted three charges.
They were a single charge of threatening behaviour and two of sexual assault, in relation to the incidents on May 27 last year.
Threatening approach to lone woman
The charges detail how Erwin acted in a threatening or abusive manner by approaching a woman on Raining’s Stairs, between Ardconnel Street and Castle Street.
He took hold of her shopping bag before placing his arm around her.
On the same day he sexually assaulted two women on Church Street.
In the first incident, Erwin placed his hand on the victim’s lower back and kissed her on the hand.
In the second incident, he repeatedly seized another victim on the arm and body, hugging her and kissing her on the face.
Caught on camera
At an earlier hearing, fiscal depute Victoria Silver told the court Erwin’s behaviour had been caught on camera.
She said: “The complainer is seen on CCTV coming up the steps and is then essentially accosted by Mr Erwin in what is a narrow set of stairs.”
Ms Silver said Erwin put his arm around the woman’s shoulder and continued to tell her she was “a good-looking woman”
The woman – who was on her own “found the whole interaction quite scary”, the fiscal depute said.
The next woman was targeted on Union Street and Church Street as she returned to her car after work.
“He has followed her to her car and has engaged in conversation with her, placing his hand on her lower back,” Ms Silver told the court.
Victim described ‘alarming’ behaviour
Erwin kissed the woman on the hand and held onto it for “a reasonable period of time” creating a situation the woman described as “alarming.”
The third woman was targeted in a similar manner.
As she walked on Church Street, Erwin was “walking along with her for a considerable period of time” and “repeatedly touching her”.
He stopped her on the corner and hugged and kissed her.
“She was rather taken aback by the whole situation, and wasn’t really sure what to do,” Ms Silver told Sheriff Gary Aitken.
Erwin also admitted a single charge of theft.
This involved him taking money from a 14-year-old girl in Lush on Inverness High Street on the same day.
At the sentencing hearing, solicitor Willie Young, for Erwin, directed Sheriff Aitken to the findings of a criminal justice social work report and invited him to follow its recommendations.
‘Really quite scary’
Sheriff Aitken told Erwin: “Your behaviour on May 27 was completely unacceptable.
“Your own explanation for that relies heavily on the fact that you were under the influence of substances.
“That is not a reason to behave in that way.”
The sheriff described the incidents as “really quite scary for the individuals involved”.
He placed Erwin on a community payback order with three years social work supervision.
There is also a requirement to attend the Moving Forward 2 Change programme for sexual offenders.
He also made Erwin subject to a drug treatment requirement and placed him on the sex offenders register for three years.
Speaking from the dock following the sentencing, Erwin told the court: “I apologise for my behaviour.”