By Mark Mackay

A SERIAL STALKER branded “a danger to women” will today be banned from “accosting” any female in Scotland for the next five years.

Robert Basterfield (35), of Perth, will become the first person in Tayside to be made the subject of a Sexual Offences Protection Order (SOPO).

So concerned by the Australian’s behaviour were Tayside Police that Chief Constable John Vine initially wanted him to be banned from approaching women without their permission for the next 30 years.

However, while Sheriff Lindsay Foulis has granted the SOPO, he has imposed the minimum period of five years.

A police spokeswoman said yesterday the force could not comment on the judgment until the 90-page document had been studied.

The SNP’s Perth MSP Roseanna Cunningham both welcomed the decision and praised the police for their efforts and innovative approach.

However she said steps needed to be taken to make it easier to protect the public from offenders like Basterfield.

During a lengthy and in-depth legal process, Perth Sheriff Court was told Basterfield, who has twice been convicted of stalking women, presented “an imminent risk of causing serious harm to a member of the public.”

Counsel for the chief constable said it was “almost inevitable” he would strike again.

And in that opinion Tayside Police were joined by medical staff and the social work department.

However, Basterfield’s counsel had claimed the order being sought by the chief constable was “draconian.”

James MacDonald described the situation as “something akin to the script of Minority Report” and said the chief constable was trying to legislate against “thought crimes.”

“No complaint has been made about the behaviour of the defender since April 2006,” he told a hearing in March.

“The reason why there have been no further reported incidents is that Mr Basterfield has complied with the orders, firstly of bail and latterly the terms of the probation order.

“There is no need for any further order.”

He called on Sheriff Lindsay Foulis to refuse the chief constable’s application, or to restrict the period of the order to the minimum allowed—the five years imposed by yesterday’s judgment.

In his 90-page findings, Sheriff Foulis defines to accost as “to approach and address boldly and aggressively” or “to stop a person and further solicit sexually.”

Basterfield, who is originally from Australia but who now lives in Perth, was jailed for four months last year after he followed a Spanish barmaid through the town.

He was convicted of pestering her for her phone number, repeatedly trying to hold her hand and put his arm around her.

Basterfield is also on three years’ probation after he followed a Bridge of Earn woman to her home in 2004 and tried to push his way into her flat.

He returns to Perth Sheriff Court today for his latest probation hearing.