James Mcguire V. Procurator Fiscal, Glasgow
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judge | Lord Carloway,Lord Menzies,Sheriff Principal Brian A Lockhart |
| Neutral Citation | [2012] HCJAC86 |
| Court | High Court of Justiciary |
| Date | 07 June 2012 |
| Docket Number | XJ214/12 |
| Published date | 07 June 2012 |
| APPEAL COURT, HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY | |
| Lord Carloway Lord Menzies Sheriff Principal Lockhart | XJ214/12 OPINION OF THE COURT delivered by LORD CARLOWAY in APPEAL AGAINST BILL OF SUSPENSION by JAMES MCGUIRE Appellant; against PROCURATOR FISCAL, GLASGOW Respondent: _____________ |
Appellant: D Taylor, Solicitor Advocate; Paterson Bell for Evan Cameron, Glasgow
Respondent: Young, QC; AD Crown Agent
11 May 2012
On the 13 January 2012 the appellant, who is aged 25, was found guilty, after a 2 day trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court, of a breach of the peace by exposing his penis and masturbating in Sauchiehall Street. The circumstances of the offence are detailed in a report from the Sheriff to the social work department following upon conviction. The report reads as follows:
"[2] ...as [the police] were walking towards the International Arts Centre at No. 35 Sauchiehall Street they saw a drunk man...leaning with his back against the window of the Arts Centre. He seemed to be using the window to hold himself up. The accused's belt and trouser buttons were undone and he was holding his penis in his right hand and appeared to be masturbating with it.
[3] On seeing the matters referred to in paragraph [2],...the first thoughts of both police officers were that the accused was urinating. However, as they approached him from a distance of about 15 to 20 meters, they saw he was in fact masturbating. In that connection, both police officers describe in some detail precisely what the accused was doing (viz stroking his penis with his right hand fully clasped around it and having his right hand clasped round the shaft of his penis, moving his hand up and down). Both police officers stated that the accused continued with these actions as they approached him. He had his penis in his right hand for about 20 seconds. They both identified themselves as police officers and took the accused into a doorway out of sight of members of the public. The both described the accused's penis as being semi-erect and confirmed that he was extremely drunk. Sauchiehall Street was very busy at that time of night, with many pedestrians walking past in both directions, some of whom appeared to be shocked at the accused's actions...".
[2] The Sheriff determined that the offence had a significant sexual aspect in terms of paragraph 60 of schedule 3 to the Sexual Offences Act 2003. At the time of his decision, he did not have the benefit of this court's rulings in Thomson v Dunn 2012 SCCR...
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