Steven Puttock 26

Description

Victims of a bed-hopping sexual predator who walked free after targeting five women have spoken of their horror.

Steven Puttock crept into two of his victims’ bedrooms and assaulted them while they slept as he carried out a series of vile sex attacks over a 14-month period.

But last week a sheriff told the 25-year-old, from Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire, that jailing him wouldn’t help him or his victims.

He was instead sentenced to a “top-end community disposal” and ordered to pay each of the women £500 compensation.

One victim, who was assaulted in her own home after Puttock crept into her bed, told the Record: “We’re the victims, not him.

“To pay us £500 for what he has done to us all doesn’t cut it.

“He’s free to get on with his life but we’re going to be affected by this for the rest of ours.”

The electrician admitted assaulting the five women at houses in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth between January 2020 and March the following year, with one victim being targeted on three occasions and another twice.

Airdire Sheriff Court heard they were all considered friends and “like family” to him.

Puttock had a girlfriend at the time and apologised via text and Facebook messages to two of the women, using exactly the same words to both.

Sheriff Joseph Hughes said the pervert told a psychologist his offending “would likely have escalated to a more serious level” if he had continued down the same path.

He was assessed as at a medium risk of re-offending, but the sheriff told the first offender: “A custodial sentence will not in itself assist you in addressing your offending.

“Sentencing you to a modest period in prison will not help either the victims or society at large.”

Puttock was sentenced to three years of supervision, 300 hours unpaid work and a 12-month electronic tagging order .

Five-year non-harassment orders were made for each victim and his name will be on the sex offenders’ register for the same period.

One victim, who was groped in her bed in January 2020, said: “He thought he could randomly sneak into other people’s beds and cause this massive impact on their lives and he gets community service?

“I moved house after this. I kept having nightmares thinking people were in my room.

“Why is he allowed to be in the community when he is a danger to the community?

“Litter picking and painting fences? How is that going to stop him from reoffending?

“I don’t see how he’s not going to be a danger to women after this? I don’t care about his money.”

Another victim told how Puttock was like “a brother” to her when he crept into her bed and put his hands inside her clothing in November 2020.

She said: “He knew exactly what he was doing and his intentions.

“It happened so quickly. The next day I was distraught. I knew if I told my mum and dad they would erupt.”

The victim said she didn’t go to police until a year later because she was worried about the impact on her family.

She said: “I could barely cope. I would check car parks to make sure his car wasn’t there.

“He then messaged me and said he was sorry for everything he had done.

“This sentence makes us think ‘is that it?’ You would have expected more for five victims.

“I only hope this will change how he treats women in the future because I don’t want anyone else to go through this.”

A third victim told how brazen Puttock put his hand down her trousers on two occasions in a room full of her family and friends in October 2020.

She said: “It made me feel sick to the pit of my stomach. He’s just a horrible, horrible human. I can’t explain the anger.

“He thought he got away with it the first time so could do it again.”

Defence agent Ross Brown said Puttock had been abusing alcohol and cocaine at the time of the offences.

He said Puttock was in “highly-skilled employment” and had found a new relationship.