I'm no perv, says bare belly pest

AN Inverness man who rubbed his bare belly in front of a schoolgirl had a court attempt to be kept off the Sex Offenders Register rejected by a sheriff this week.

But Kevin Murdoch (46), of Lindsay Avenue, has now instructed his solicitor to appeal to the High Court.

Murdoch was placed on the register at Tain Sheriff Court this week for rubbing his bare stomach to a 15-year-old girl sitting on a public bench and attempting to hug her.

The order had been imposed when Murdoch admitted committing a breach of the peace during the incident in Alness.

At the same court on December 16 last year, Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood made Murdoch subject to notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Register. This requires sex offenders to report regularly to a local police station and to advise the police if they move address.

Murdoch admitted sitting on a public bench on July 22, last year, in High Street, Alness, next to a 15-year-old girl, engaging her in conversation, exposing and rubbing his abdomen in front of her, attempting to seize hold of her and placing her in a state of fear and alarm.

Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood was told in December that Murdoch lifted his top and started rubbing his stomach and attempted to hug the girl with his outstretched arms.

He deferred sentence for reports and ruled that Murdoch would be subject to the notification requirements of the SOR.

In court on Tuesday, Murdoch's solicitor Craig Wood asked Sheriff David Sutherland not to place him on the register. He referred to a previous case conducted by Sheriff Derek Pyle on November 4, 2008, when he took an accused person off the SOR at Fort William Sheriff Court. In that case Mr Wood said Sheriff Pyle ruled that for someone to placed on the register there had to be a "significant" sexual element to the case.

Sheriff Pyle said in the Fort William case in his opinion the "significant" sexual aspect must be important enough to indicate "an underlying sexual disorder or deviance from which society is entitled to be protected".

Mr Wood said on Tuesday Murdoch's conduct could not be considered to have a significant sexual element.

Procurator Fiscal Alasdair MacDonald said: "I think the issue is the interpretation of the word 'significant' and I think the court would not be bound by the sheriff dealing with the case."

But Sheriff Sutherland placed Murdoch on a year's probation and told him he would be placed on the register.

He said Sheriff Fleetwood was given medical reports therefore he was not in a position to vary these conditions.

Mr Wood said after the hearing he had been instructed by Murdoch to lodge an appeal to the High Court against the ruling.