A 14-YEAR-OLD girl has told a court that a man sat near her on a bus and touched himself sexually within her view.
The teenager was giving evidence during the first day of a Jurat trial of 57-year-old Kevin Andrew Lochhead in the Royal Court.
Mr Lochhead denies performing a sex act in public.
Giving evidence yesterday from behind a screen, the girl said she was sitting on the top deck of the bus with a friend when a man came and sat just behind them, passing a number of other empty seats.
After the friend got off, the teenager said she saw the man masturbating.
She told the court: “I was really scared.”
She reported it to her mother, who then contacted the police. Mr Lochhead was subsequently charged but denied the offence in the Magistrate’s Court in July and again in September when he appeared for indictment in the Royal Court.
Advocate Christina Hall, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Lochhead had numerous previous convictions for indecent exposure.
She said: “The defendant has a sexual interest in young girls. It is the fact that he does it in public that causes the sexual gratification for him.”
Advocate James Bell, defending, asked the girl if she was sure Mr Lochhead was definitely masturbating.
He said: “The defendant says you are mistaken. He was scratching his finger.”
She replied that it was not a finger she had seen.
Answering questions from Advocate Bell, Mr Lochhead said he always sat on the upper deck of a double-decker bus towards the back, because he felt “social shame” due to his previous offending.
He said he was aware of the two girls near him and admitted: “I was looking in their direction, but I certainly wasn’t staring at anyone.”
Advocate Bell asked him: “She said she had seen your penis. Could she have seen your penis?”
He replied: “No.”
The trial is expected to last one more day. Commissioner Sir William Bailhache was presiding with Jurats Austin-Vautier and Opferman sitting.
