A Fife charity shop customer was shocked when the store manager tried to lick his hand then said: “Let’s see your willy”.
When the customer made a sharp exit, Peter Martini-Yates called after him: “No sex then?”
On another occasion, 55-year-old Martini-Yates showed another person a pornographic video in the Dunfermline shop’s basement and then carried out a solo sex act.
Calling himself “Aunty Peter”, the shop boss preyed on his victims, who both have learning disabilities.
Martini-Yates, of Sherbrooke Road, Rosyth, was found guilty by a jury of the two charges he faced at a trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
The offences took place at two charity shops he managed in Dunfermline.
Shop manager reported
The trial heard evidence from the customer who was 18 at the time he was assaulted – an occasion between March 18 and October 24, 2019.
The witness, now 20, said he was a regular customer, often with his girlfriend, in the Debra Shop in Bridge Street and knew staff members, including Martini-Yates.
They initially got on well but the youth became concerned about the manager’s behaviour, including when Martini-Yates called him crude name.
The witness said he did not even know what the word meant until he asked his father.
The customer said matters came to a head when Martini-Yates tried to lick his hand and then made obscene comments.
Asked how he felt afterwards, the man said: “It was playing with my dignity.
“I was embarrassed to tell my partner and my family.”
He had reported the incident to the charity’s area manager, Michelle Scott.
Suspended and dismissed
Mrs Scott, 59, told the court she was phoned by the customer and was “quite shocked” by what she heard.
When she confronted Martini-Yates with the allegations the following week he admitted to making the “willy” comment.
She added: “He was mortified and said: ‘That’s bad, isn’t it?’
“He couldn’t say why he’d done it.”
He denied making the “no sex” comment.
He was suspended from his job and later dismissed.
‘Flamboyant and over-the-top’ character
The other offence had taken place in the Sense Scotland charity shop in Bridge Street on an occasion between November 1 and December 31, 2015.
The mother of the man, in his 30s, who was shown the pornographic video, said he had told her of the incident the day it happened and described him as being “agitated”.
Former volunteer worker Mandy Clark, 59, said she had concerns about Martini-Yates asking a young male volunteer to kiss him at the end of each shift.
Another former shop worker Joyce Brown, 66, described Martini-Yates as a “flamboyant and sometimes over-the-top” character who would regularly talk about sex acts and make jokes about a young worker’s penis in the shop.
Accused said both victims were lying
In his evidence, Martini-Yates accused both young men of telling lies in court.
He claimed the “willy” comment was meant as a joke and that he had not tried to lick the man’s hand.
He said he had simply taken hold of his hand to look at his ring.
He denied making the “no sex” comment and said nothing happened in the basement with the man.
He was found guilty of sexual assault in the Debra shop and engaging in unwanted sexual activity with a male in the Sense shop.
Sheriff Charles Macnair called for reports and bail was continued.
Martini-Yates was put on the Sex Offenders Register and will be sentenced on November 18.
