Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Pair cleared of Fife Aldi sex act – despite sheriff believing they did it

Gillian Norris and Craig Thomson were found not guilty after a trial.

Gillian Norris and Craig Thomson
Gillian Norris and Craig Thomson were cleared after a trial in Kirkcaldy.

A couple accused of carrying out a sex act in broad daylight at a Fife Aldi have been cleared of criminality, despite a sheriff saying he believed they did it.

The sheriff said he had “no doubt” over what witnesses saw but because of what the pair were charged with, he was unable to convict.

A pair of teenagers told a trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court Gillian Norris and Craig Thomson were on the steps in the grounds of Aldi on Ferrard Road.

One of the girls, now 17, described seeing a woman performing a sex act a man as he reclined on the steps.

Both identified the male as 41-year-old Thomson, and Norris, 43, was recognised by police officers, who arrested her two days later.

Both Norris, of Ballingry Road, Cowdenbeath, and Thomson, of Duncan Street, Kirkcaldy, denied engaging in sexual activity in the presence of the two girls on September 27.

Sheriff Robert More said the two teenage complainers were “entirely credible and reliable” and he had “no doubt what was happening on the date libelled – none whatsoever”.

However, he said an aspect of the charge – coercing a person to be present during sexual activity – proffered against Norris and Thomson could not be proved.

Pair identified by witnesses and police

The first girl said she and a friend were leaving Aldi at around 2pm when they noticed the pair on the steps leading to Forth Avenue.

“We were walking out and saw two people sitting on the stairs. I could tell something was weird.

“There was one male and one female and he was sitting with his legs spread open.

“She was sitting in front of him but her head was down.

“It looked like her head was going up and down.”

She said she believed she had seen Thomson’s genitals, adding: “I saw something but I didn’t look closely.

“They clocked us and she moved off – I saw her wiping her mouth.”

Aldi, Kirkcaldy
The witnesses said the sex act happened on the steps leading to the Aldi car park.

She identified Thomson in a police line up but was unsure of the identity of the female until, reviewing CCTV shown in court, she remembered the woman wearing a black top with “McKenzie” emblazoned on it.

The pair were captured on CCTV in the supermarket’s car park, with Norris – wearing the “McKenzie” top – also seen entering the store.

When arrested by police she was still wearing the top.

All the witnesses denied suggestions by defence agents for the pair that they were mistaken in their identity of the couple.

Not guilty

The case was brought under sections 5 and 32 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, which involve “coercing a person into being present during a sexual activity” and “causing an older child to be present during a sexual activity”, respectively.

Prosecutor Brogan Moffat had conceded during submissions in the case she would struggle to prove coercion.

Sheriff More said he was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt and found Thomson – who hit the headlines in 2018 when he was caught in a shed he was raiding –  and Norris not guilty.

Guilty of police abuse

Norris had earlier pled guilty to assaulting a police officer and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at Kirkcaldy police station on September 29 last year.

Ms Moffat told the court Norris had been arrested and taken into custody and became verbally abusive.

While going through a metal detector she kicked a PC on the thigh, shouted and swore, and made multiple threats.

Gillian Norris
Gillian Norris.

Norris told the constable: “When I see you outside work, I’m going to give you a kicking and you won’t stand a chance”.

Defence lawyer Adam Scott said his client had slid back into addiction and is ashamed and regretful about the offence.

Sentencing was deferred until December 6.

For more local court content visit our page or join us on Facebook.