GARY ADAM OF CALLANDER FACES JAIL FOR ABUSE AND SEXUAL ASSAULTS ON HOTEL STAFF
The co-owner of two hotels in Callander who exploited his authority to abuse female employees is facing incarceration.Gary Adam, 35, allegedly used his position as boss to intimidate and sexually assault two young women, Falkirk Sheriff Court was told.
The incidents took place at the Waverley Hotel and Crags Hotel, both located on Main Street and jointly owned by Adam.
Jurors heard that the first woman had been working for Adam for just one week when he made an unwanted advance on her while she was playing pool at another pub.
She explained to him that she did not want to lose her job or have sex with him when he approached her at work.
Within hours, Adam summoned her to the Waverley Hotel’s office under the pretense of needing a new uniform T-shirt.
There, he pushed her against the wall, tightened his hand around her neck, forcefully kissed her on the lips, and attempted to put his hand down her trousers.
She described him growling or grunting in her ear and threatening to 'snap her like a twig.' She also recounted that he had previously snapped a pool cue in front of her.
Shocked and distressed, she left the scene, but later that night, Adam sexually assaulted her again by touching her buttocks as she bent over to pick something up.
The following day, after this incident in 2019, she handed in her notice.
The court further heard that Adam repeatedly assaulted another woman in 2020 while she worked at the Crags Hotel.
She tearfully told the court how he followed her into a walk-in cupboard, locked the door behind them, and pinned her against the wall, trying to kiss her.
Frozen with fear, she was unable to react until a customer called from the bar and she managed to leave.
Later, Adam, who had been drinking with friends and was more intoxicated, returned alone and asked for the key to a hotel bedroom.
He then texted her demanding she bring a Peroni beer to the room.
After she left the beer outside, he entered, grabbed her wrist, pulled her inside, pushed her onto the bed, held her arms above her head, and attempted to kiss her again.
She repeatedly told him no, and he eventually sent her away, refusing to return her phone which he had pushed away on the bed.
When he later returned her phone, the message requesting her to bring beer to his room had been deleted.
Adam later told the woman that such incidents would not happen again.
However, three weeks later, after her shift, she visited friends at the Waverley Hotel, where Adam approached her and asked for a lift back to his home on the outskirts of Callander.
She hesitated to refuse, but during the short drive, Adam asked her to stay with him in a hotel room.
When she declined, he demanded she stop and let him out.
Before she could turn off the engine, he climbed over her, sat on top of her, forcibly pushed her head back, and held her mouth open with his hand.
She said, "He managed to get it open and put his tongue down my throat.
I just sat there.
I didn’t know what to do." She recounted that he then inserted his hand in her leggings and under her underwear, touching her private area.
Fearful and disgusted, she managed to call a random number on her phone, which prompted Adam to stop and ask to be taken home.
Following a three-day trial, the jury convicted Adam, a father of one and a first offender from Cambusmore, Callander, on five charges of sexually assaulting both women.
Adam admitted to being a 'scumbag' for cheating on his partner but denied the allegations.
He contested some of the claims, stating that not all events occurred and that in some cases, consensual activity took place.
Prosecutor Cheryl Clark highlighted that Adam had systematically exploited and manipulated the women, creating situations to be alone with them, and leveraging fear, physical strength, and his authoritative role to carry out the abuse.
Sheriff Christopher Shead continued his bail for reports, placed Adam on the sex offenders register, and warned a custodial sentence might be imposed.
Adam is scheduled to appear again on March 31.
The defence lawyer, Wendy Hay, reserved her right to mitigation.
