Brian Smith 52

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A PERVERTED former Ayrshire school teacher who admitted taking secret, inappropriate, pictures of his former colleagues has avoided jail.

Brian Smith has instead been placed on a community based order - which includes a number of requirements - as a direct alternative to custody.

The 52-year-old took the upskirt images while he was employed as an English teacher at both Stewarton Academy in East Ayrshire and Wellington School in Ayr.

The indecent photos were surreptitiously snapped over a near seven-year period between June 2015 and January 2022.

The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to a pair of charges in relation to operating equipment beneath the clothing of females at both schools - with the intention of enabling himself or another to observe the genitals, buttocks or underwear of the victims - when he appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court previously on Tuesday, November 5.

The court heard that the incidents only came to light when Smith, of Cardhu Gardens in Kilmarnock, committed another offence - a breach of the peace - which he also admitted in the dock last month.

This incident took place on January 25 of last year at Tesco on West Shaw Street in Kilmarnock, procurator fiscal depute Gemma McKechnie told the court at that time.

Here, he followed a woman around the store with a mobile phone in hand. It was later discovered that - unbeknown to the woman involved - he had photographed images up her skirt.

Though Smith was caught out after she expressed her feeling of being followed to the shop's security guard.

The police were later made aware of the matter, and this ultimately uncovered other images held by the former teacher.

His details were obtained and then passed to police, who obtained a search warrant for his property.

A MacBook laptop and a hard drive were later analysed and found to contain "voyeuristic" images which depicted people associated with both Stewarton Academy and Wellington School.

Smith returned to Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on Friday, December 13, to be sentenced in relation to all three matters brought to light.

Defence advocate Janice Green addressed Sheriff Murdoch Mactaggart on his behalf before a final disposal was imposed, following the preparation of background reports.

She stated that these were offences "society disapproves of" which involved an "abuse of trust" - though commented that the content within was not "at the higher end of the scale".

Ms Green added: "He expresses extreme regret and remorse for affect on the victims and his own family. His guilt and shame is evident. That will now live with him.

"It is clear he has taken significant steps himself to try to manage his proclivities. He has been working with a registered counsellor intensively since May in order to address and face the underlying deviant motivations.

"Despite the setback in terms of his catastrophic fall from grace he continued to work when able to in a less public facing role. He intends to maintain this.

"He knows custody is something that could follow from these offences. Though a robust community order would serve the purposes of punishment.

"Allow him to continue to work toward rehabilitation. He is content to accept any condition that gives him his liberty."

Before sentencing, Sheriff Murdoch Mactaggart addressed the court in terms of the case.

Following a previous hearing, which followed on from the initial guilty pleas provided by Smith, it was determined by the court that some images did not meet the threshold required to be considered appropriate to the charges brought by the Crown.

As a result, two school pupils listed as victims, and one former colleague, were removed from the charges.

The Sheriff added that these images may have been considered criminal under a different charge - though the court was unable to amend those brought by prosecutors.

Addressing Smith, he added: You have pleaded guilty to three serious offences. You took advantage of your position of trust. People are entitled to feel safe in their place of work.

You did this for your own sexual gratification and caused them considerable stress.

In terms of the final charge (relating to Tesco in Kilmarnock) this lady was alarmed and distressed by your conduct.

You presented a risk to woman and this court needs to act to protect woman from you in future.

The 52-year-old was then placed on a community payback order, which will include a range of conditions.

Smith will be placed under social works supervision for a period of three years and will be required to complete the 'Moving Forward Making Changes' program - which helps adult men convicted of sexual offenses to lead a life without harming others.

He was also ordered to complete 210 hours of unpaid work over a period of nine months.

Further to this, he will not be able to use any internet enabled devices unless their written history of use is made available for inspection. He must not delete his browsing history at any stage.

Smith was also made subject to a restriction of liberty ordered which means he must remain within his home address between 7pm and 7am each day for the next three months. His movements will be electronically monitored during this time.

Lastly, the former teacher was placed on the sex offenders register for a period of five years from his court appearance.