A perverted Fife charity shop boss has been jailed for two years after being convicted of a string of sex offences.
Peter Martini-Yates was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for a decade.
Calling himself “Aunty Peter”, the manager of Dunfermline charity shops preyed on victims, who both had learning disabilities.
He tried to lick one customer’s hand, then said: “Let’s see your willy”.
As the customer fled, Peter Martini-Yates called after him: “No sex, then?”
Martini-Yates, of Sherbrooke Road, Rosyth, was found guilty by a jury of sexual assaulting the customer in the Debra charity shop in Dunfermline.
He was also convicted of communicating indecently with another man – showing him a pornographic video in the town’s Sense Scotland shop – before carrying out a sex act.
‘Bizarre explanation’
At the sentencing hearing at Dunfermline Sheriff court on Monday, Sheriff Charles MacNair said: “He showed no remorse whatsoever.”
He branded one offence a “gross breach of trust with regard to the vulnerability of the complainer, who suffered learning disabilities.”
He went on: “You have no recognition of you doing anything wrong.
“You put it down to being tactile and this rather bizarre explanation.”
Social workers found Martini Yates to present a medium risk of sexual reconviction and a moderate risk of sexual reoffending.
Sheriff MacNair said there was no alterative to prison.
Customer left embarrassed
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 in the Debra Shop on Bridge Street and knew staff members, including Martini-Yates.
They initially got on well but he became concerned about the manager’s behaviour, including when Martini-Yates called him a crude name.
The witness said he did not 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.
The man said: “It was playing with my dignity.
“I was embarrassed to tell my partner and my family.”
Suspended by charity
He had reported the incident to the charity’s area manager, Michelle Scott.
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 denied making the “no sex” comment.
He was suspended from his job and later dismissed.
Previous offence
The other offence had taken place in the Sense Scotland charity shop, also on Bridge Street, on an occasion between November 1 and December 31, 2015.
Martini-Yates showed his victim, in his 30s, a pornographic video in the shop basement.
The mother of the man 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” character who would regularly talk about sex acts and make jokes about a young worker’s penis.
Denials and joking claims
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.
Martini-Yates was found guilty by a jury of the two charges he faced at trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
His defence solicitor said the married man had worked in retail and hospitality his entire life.
It was also revealed since his conviction, Martini Yates had had a job offer at a supermarket withdrawn.
His counsel added: “I recognise that offending involves the breach of a position of trust.
“The accused is 55, presenting with no history of previous offending.
“Since his conviction, he’s no longer in employment.”
