A pervert who created a hole in a bathroom door to spy on a young woman has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
David Cosgrove’s victim, who was preparing to take a bath, grew suspicious and started filming on her phone through the gap.
The woman, now 19, caught him squatting down and peering through the hole at a property in Fife in April 2020.
Cosgrove, 48, of Lawrie Terrace, Loanhead, appeared in Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing, having previously admitted the offence of voyeurism under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act.
He pled guilty to observing the young woman doing a private act by peering through a hole in a bathroom door without her permission while she was in a state of undress and preparing to take a bath.
Caught peering through hole
At the earlier hearing, prosecutor Azrah Yousaf said Cosgrove had removed the bathroom lock, which left a small hole in the door handle, making it possible to look in from outside.
The girl became suspicious when Cosgrove entered the bathroom as she prepared to use it.
The fiscal said: “She was not fully undressed at that stage and felt as though the accused was trying to watch her.
“She began to record on her mobile phone camera.
“She held it up to the previously-mentioned hole and saw on the screen the accused squatting down on the other side of the door, attempting to look through the hole on the handle into the bathroom.
“The complainer got a fright and stopped filming.”
She did not tell anyone until June this year, when she provided the footage to police, leading to Cosgrove’s arrest.
Non-harassment order
In his plea in mitigation, defence lawyer Andrew Aitken said Cosgrove’s crime was more than three years ago and he has not committed any offences since.
The solicitor referred to a social work report assessing his client as being at low risk of reoffending.
Procurator fiscal depute Laura McManus told the court the victim had intimated she has mental health concerns which are partly because of the offending against her.
Sheriff Francis Gill sentenced Cosgrove to 165 hours of unpaid work as part of a community payback order.
Cosgrove was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
A three-year non-harassment order was also granted, banning him from contacting his victim.
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