PETER HALL RECEIVES COMMUNITY SENTENCE IN LERWICK
A man who entered a woman's bedroom and performed a sexual act on her bed has avoided a jail sentence.Instead, 24-year-old Peter Hall of Ladies Drive in Lerwick was ordered to wear a monitoring tag for a year when he appeared for sentencing at Lerwick Sheriff Court.
Hall was also given a three-year community payback order and instructed to remain on the sex offenders register throughout that time.
Additionally, he is banned from entering Sandveien, the area where the offence occurred, and was warned not to commit any further crimes.
The court deferred sentencing after Hall's earlier disturbance of a house in February, where he broke into a bed, stole clothing, and photographs.
At that time, the woman and her partner were at a neighbour's house.
They called 999 after seeing Hall through their window.
Inside the house, cupboards and the fridge were left open, and the woman’s clothing was scattered on the bedroom floor.
It was later revealed that Hall fled wearing one of her dresses.
When questioned, he claimed the clothing was actually chef’s whites belonging to his mother.
Hall’s troubles continued when he failed to attend social work appointments, resulting in his detention until today’s hearing.
Sheriff Graeme Napier commented on the difficulty of trusting Hall with his liberty.
He described Hall as a high-risk offender who would eventually cost the community tens of thousands of pounds in supervision costs if kept out of custody.
Defence solicitor Tommy Allan argued that imprisoning Hall would also be costly.
He stated that Hall was eager to understand his behaviour and was willing to cooperate.
Mr.
Allan noted that Hall had served the equivalent of a two-month sentence since being held at Craiginches Prison, where he had been kept under 23-hour surveillance for his own safety.
He emphasized that Hall had been warned about the consequences of failing to meet his objectives.
Ultimately, the sheriff was persuaded to spare Hall from a prison term.
He told him, 'There is no guarantee you would come out of a prison sentence having addressed the issues you face, whereas if you don’t address them you will be going to custody.'
