A Perth binman sent an unsolicited nude photo to a female customer after getting her phone number from his job sheet.
Christopher Cruickshank contacted the woman out of the blue and told her: “If you ever need your bins emptied, give me a shout.”
After she made a formal complaint to Perth and Kinross Council, Cruickshank told his employers he sent the explicit image because: “I thought to myself she was alright.”
He later told police he had sent the picture by mistake.
Cruickshank, 48, was originally charged with a sexual offence.
However he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted an amended charge of causing fear or alarm by behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, after prosecutors agreed there was not a significant sexual element to the crime.
Filthy image sent
The court heard Cruickshank had been working with other refuse collectors in Auchterarder just after 11am on August 16 last year.
Prosecutor Duncan McKenzie said the woman, who had earlier reported a missed bin collection, stepped outside after seeing the refuse truck.
“She approached the accused and had a brief conversation.
“He finished emptying her bins and left shortly afterwards.”
Mr McKenzie said: “About 15 minutes later, the complainer received a WhatsApp message from a new contact.
“The displayed name was ‘Chris Cruickshank’.”
He told her to “give me a shout” if she needed her bins emptied.
“The complainer did not recognise the number or name, so she ignored the message,” the fiscal depute said.
“At about 12.15pm, she received an image from the same number.
“She opened it and observed a picture of a fully erect male penis.
“The image disappeared shortly afterwards and could not be viewed again.”
Joking emojis sent after woman’s queries
The complainer blocked the number but unblocked it later that day.
“At this point, further messages were received from the accused,” the prosecutor said.
One stated: “I think I have the wrong person.”
The woman asked him if he had emptied her bins.
He replied: “Not sure, was he a good looking guy?” He added a crying laughing emoji.
Mr McKenzie said: “The complainer said she had a boyfriend and told the accused he shouldn’t be sending images of that nature as it was her daughter’s phone.
“She blocked the number again.”
The woman called the council and asked if an employee called Chris Cruickshank had been working on her street that morning.
Confessions to council staff
Two days later, council staff went to speak to Cruickshank at his office in Crieff recycling centre and he confessed to sending the image.
In a signed statement that was later passed to police, Cruickshank wrote: “The resident came out and we chatted away.
“She asked for me to take extra bags.
“I thought to myself she was alright and so when I went back home I decided to send her a message on WhatsApp.
“I had her number as it was showing on the job card.
“I know I shouldn’t do that but I sent a photo of my penis to her.
“She wasn’t interested, so I didn’t send any more messages.”
Cruickshank later attended voluntarily at Perth police station.
Mr McKenzie said: “He admitted sending the image but maintained at that stage that it had been done by accident.
“He said he had meant to send it to his current partner.”
Tried to talk his way out of trouble
Solicitor Paul Ralph, defending, said: “It won’t be much of a surprise to hear that Mr Cruickshank was dismissed after this complaint was investigated.
“He had gone home after his shift ended and was engaging in other activity on his phone and that is when he sent this image by accident.”
Asked by Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon why Cruickshank had told his employers he had deliberately sent the photo, Mr Ralph said: “He simply thought that this was a matter he could talk his way out of.”
Cruickshank, of Barrack Street, Perth, was fined £400.
The sheriff said he was not satisfied there was a sexual element to the offence after hearing Cruickshank had told the woman he had sent the photo to the wrong person.
He said this line backed up what he later told police.
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