A 57-year-old man is on trial for allegedly touching himself sexually on a bus in front of a teenage girl.
The 14-year-old girl gave evidence yesterday during the first day of a Jurat trial of Kevin Andrew Lochhead in the Royal Court.
Mr Lochhead denies performing a sex act in public.
Speaking to the court 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 said she saw the man masturbating.
She told the court: “I was really scared.”
The teen 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 too large to have been a finger.
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 conclude today.
Commissioner Sir William Bailhache was presiding with Jurats Austin-Vautier and Opferman sitting.