BERNARD MUNRO

TAXI DRIVER SENTENCED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT IN PERTH

UPDATE HES PASSED AWAY A taxi driver who carried out a sex attack on a woman in a Perth hotel has been placed on the sex offenders register.

A court was told Bernard Munro would no longer be allowed to operate as a cabbie after being found guilty of sexual assault.

Munro claimed his behaviour was normal during a night out, but Sheriff Neil Bowie said it was clear he had left his victim in a state of distress.

Munro, 66, of Angus Road, Scone, was found guilty of sexually assaulting the woman at the Lovat Hotel in Perth.

He was found guilty of repeatedly holding her by the waist and pressing his groin against her on February 7 last year.

Sheriff Bowie told him at Perth Sheriff Court on Wednesday: “It was perhaps not your intention to cause the distress you did, but nevertheless I am satisfied she was upset and distressed by your conduct.” The court sentenced him to be placed on the sex offenders register and ordered him to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work in the community, as well as being under social work supervision for 12 months.

Solicitor David Holmes, defending, stated: “His view of what was acceptable on a night out did not coincide with the criminal law’s view.

He lost his employment and his capacity to work in that type of job as well.” Munro had appeared in the High Court less than a decade ago charged with drug-related offenses.

In 2012, during a large-scale surveillance operation aimed at disrupting drug trade links between Tayside and Liverpool, police found more than £100,000 worth of heroin in his taxi.

Munro was later cleared of all allegations against him, but his passenger Stephen Townsley was sentenced to five years and six months in prison.

Police Scotland also opposed granting him an alcohol license to operate a bar, citing his proven links to organized crime gangs.