IAN JORDAN, GLASGOW OPTICIAN, SENTENCED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULTS IN GLASGOW AND AYR
Ian Jordan, a 64-year-old former optician from County Durham, was convicted of sexually and indecently assaulting two women, including a patient in Ayr and a woman in Glasgow's Jordanhill.Jordan, who previously claimed he could assist with autism and brain injuries using tinted lenses, was found guilty in Glasgow Sheriff Court last September despite denying the charges during trial.
Sheriff Lindsay Wood sentenced Jordan to a 24-month supervision order, six months of electronic tagging with a curfew from 9:30 pm to 6 am, and ordered him to pay each victim £5,000 in compensation.
He also placed Jordan on the sex offenders register for five years.
The sheriff remarked, "The offences you know are bad enough and caused considerable stress to both women.
Matters are made worse in that they were committed on your patients when presenting as an optician, breaching their trust.
It was quite shocking what you did and it seems to me that you are still in denial and have not expressed any remorse in your background report." Jordan’s controversial claim to help individuals with autism and brain injuries using tinted lenses had led to him being struck off the opticians register in 2018.
The General Optical Council criticised him for a "disregard for the scope of his practice and the potential risks" to patients.
The victims demonstrated bravery in giving testimony about the assaults.
One woman, aged 42, recounted how Jordan visited her unexpectedly at her home after a discussion about her neurological condition.
She described how he entered as she was trying to dress and initially discussed lenses, but then became lewd and unprofessional.
"He did not seem interested in that - the conversation was rude and lewd.
He was asking about my sex life and started touching me, putting his hand under my T-shirt on my back," she testified.
The woman added, "He was moving his hand up and down my back to the side where he touched my breast.
He said 'you enjoyed that.'" She further described Jordan asking her to lie on the floor so he could 'sync his body' with hers to supposedly help her neurological symptoms, before trying to balance her on one leg and spin her around while wearing lenses.
Another woman, aged 37, described a bizarre incident at Jordan’s Ayr practice in August 2010.
She recalled that Jordan was not her usual optician and began touching her inappropriately, asking personal questions, and commenting on her body piercings.
"He said: 'If a man saw you walking down the street, he would think you were nice.
If he saw this, he would change his mind,'" she said.
She also noted Jordan's probing into her schooling and bullying experiences.
When she began crying, she described him becoming excited, clapping, jumping on his chair, and displaying inappropriate behaviour.
It was only years later that she reported the incident to police.
During the sentencing hearing, Kelly Dooley, defending, stated, "This is still a very serious charge.
He has no previous convictions, and there has been no offending since the offences or since his conviction."
