A van driver who made sexual gestures towards lone women walking on a Methil street, has been put on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
One of Sylwester Grzymiszewski’s victims told an earlier trial he drove “very slowly” next to her and made an obscene gesture with his fingers and tongue.
The woman, in her late 20s, said the same man had shouted out, “hey, sexy” from the van on an earlier occasion.
Last month’s trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard from a second woman, in her late 30s, who described Grzymiszewski passing her with the window half-down and gesticulating with his fingers and tongue.
The three incidents all happened early in the morning on the same road in Methil, on separate occasions, between January 1 and March 26 2021.
Both women were walking to work at the time.
Scared and disgusted victims
The woman in her 20s said she felt “scared” on the two occasions she was abused, both at around 7.30am.
Speaking of the second incident involving the sexual gesture, she said: “I just kind of walked quite fast away because I felt scared.
“I was scared because it was myself and I was walking to work and it was not fully lit – and it was a long road – in case anything else happened.”
She said she had seen the man “for five to ten seconds, maybe” and described him driving “very slowly” next to her.
The other woman said she was targeted at about 6.30am, with the van driving towards her as she walked to work.
She said the driver made a “gesture with his tongue and fingers in his mouth” which lasted a few seconds.
The woman added: “I just felt it was not needed, it was crude”.
Asked by the prosecution how she felt about the incident, she said: “A woman should not have to see that kind of thing while she is walking to her work – it’s disgusting.”
Register and curfew
The trial heard police used road cameras to get the van registration and the women later picked out Grzymiszewski from identity parades.
During the trial, Grzymiszewski, 51, denied the charges.
His defence lawyer, Anna Kocela, suggested to the women her client was merely smoking as he passed them in his van and they had previously voiced unhappiness about him throwing cigarette butts out the window.
The solicitor also highlighted the poor lighting.
Grzymiszewski, of Niddrie Mains Drive, Edinburgh, was assisted by a Polish interpreter during court proceedings.
Sheriff Iain Nicol found him guilty of two charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and said he was in no doubt there was a substantial sexual element.
Grzymiszewski appeared again in court for sentencing this week and was placed on a six-month curfew order and the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
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