ROBERT LEASK SENTENCED IN SHETLAND FOR CAMERA SPYING AT BLUESHELL MUSSELS FACTORY
A man named Robert Leask, aged 50, from Huxter on the Isle of Whalsay, has been sentenced after admitting to secretly filming female colleagues with a concealed camera at his workplace.Leask was working at the Blueshell Mussels packing factory near Brae when he placed a USB camera in the communal toilet on 22 February this year.
The camera was discovered by a female employee who found it lodged between pipes next to the sink.
She reported her finding to her manager, who observed Leask adjusting the camera’s position while viewing its contents on his computer.
Police were called to the scene, and during questioning, Leask denied knowing about the device until he was informed that he himself had been captured on camera.
Initially, the court had deferred sentencing and ordered Leask to register as a sex offender, but he failed to present himself at Lerwick police station as required.
Last month, Leask pled guilty to hiding the USB camera, and the court also found that he did not register as a sex offender when he was supposed to, which resulted in a fine of 240 pounds.
During sentencing, Sheriff Graeme Napier commented on the case, describing Leask as a "hard-working person" whose actions were a severe violation of privacy.
He acknowledged that as a male, it is challenging to fully grasp the impact this had on the female victims, calling it a gross intrusion.
The sheriff decided not to impose a prison sentence, considering this was Leask’s first offence and that social workers believed intervention could help reduce the risk of reoffending.
Leask was placed under a 12-month supervision order, which includes 66 hours of voluntary community service to be completed over the next three months.
Additionally, he was fined 240 pounds for failing to register as a sex offender last month.
Sheriff Napier also chose not to impose a curfew, fearing that it might lead Leask to seek out pornography, which was part of his reasoning behind avoiding further restrictions.
