MICHAEL TAKOULAS SENTENCED TO 20 MONTHS IN PRISON IN SHETLAND FOR SEXUAL OFFENSES
A 25-year-old man, identified as Michael Takoulas, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for a series of disturbing sexual assaults involving public touching of women's buttocks.Takoulas, whose address was listed as Grampian Prison, appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
Previously, his residence was simply noted as Shetland’s North Mainland.
Takoulas had pleaded guilty to eight charges of intentionally or recklessly touching several women and a child between May and August this year.
At an earlier hearing, sentencing was postponed to allow for background reports.
During this week’s court session, prosecutor Duncan MacKenzie described the charges, indicating that Takoulas engaged in conduct suggestive of a peculiar sexual fetish.
MacKenzie stated that Takoulas appeared to obtain sexual satisfaction from secretly touching unsuspecting women on their buttocks and from recording these instances on his mobile phones.
Police investigations uncovered over 7,000 videos on two mobile phones and a laptop belonging to Takoulas, filmed over a three-year span.
The prosecutor noted that only a few of these videos were recorded in Shetland, with most taken abroad and outside the court’s jurisdiction.
The police investigation was initiated after a woman was sexually assaulted on two separate occasions at the Brae Co-op supermarket.
On August 7, Takoulas was accused of rubbing his hand across her buttocks.
The court was told there was a sense of disbelief from witnesses and the victim, who later reported the incident to her husband while visibly upset.
Later that month, at the same supermarket, Takoulas dropped his hat near the woman’s feet.
When he crouched to retrieve it, he pressed his face against her buttocks while filming himself.
A staff member and shopper heard her screams and contacted police.
CCTV footage captured both incidents.
The prosecutor clarified that there was no evidence Takoulas was following the victim intentionally, and her presence at the supermarket coinciding with his appeared to be coincidental.
Once identified via CCTV, Takoulas was detained and questioned; he mostly answered 'no comment'.
Police seized additional devices, and an initial search revealed 209 concerning videos, including three taken in Shetland, which led to three more charges.
Further scrutiny uncovered over 7,000 videos of similar concern.
Takoulas faced eight charges, including one involving the sexual assault of a child aged between 13 and 16 on the buttocks, and another where he reportedly placed his hand on a woman’s buttocks on a bus.
MacKenzie described the conduct as disturbing and reckless, highlighting the distress caused to the victims.
Defence lawyer Tommy Allan acknowledged Takoulas' bizarre behavior, expressing uncertainty about its cause.
He noted that some incidents were fleeting, some victims were unaware of being touched, and no groping or fondling was involved.
Allan suggested that Takoulas’s behavior may be driven by a compulsive impulse, referencing his prior psychological treatment for amphetamine addiction.
In terms of punishment, Allan mentioned that Takoulas, whose parents live in Bulgaria, preferred deportation.
He also pointed out that his client had already spent about six months in custody.
Sheriff Philip Mann considered the totality of the charges and their disturbing nature.
While a single offense might not typically warrant imprisonment, the mounting number of charges influenced his decision.
Sheriff Mann stated, 'When one considers that there are eight charges in total it paints a very disturbing picture of a course of offending which it is clear causes great distress and anxiety to those who are aware they have been targeted in this way.' Consequently, Takoulas was sentenced to two months in prison for each of the seven charges involving adult women, plus an additional six months for the charge involving a child, totaling 20 months.
His prison term will be effective from his initial detention in August.
The court also approved the seizure and forfeiture of the devices used during the offenses.
Regarding Takoulas' wish to be deported, that matter remains under the jurisdiction of the Home Office.
