A PANTY pervert who filmed up women's skirts has been threatened with jail if he fails to get his act together.
As reported by the Evening Times previously, deviant John Garland was caught with hundreds of images he had taken on his mobile phone in public places across Glasgow.
The 52-year-old took pictures and videos of women’s buttocks and up their skirts while on escalators, public transport and even at a wedding.
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His behaviour was only exposed after his former partner’s son-in-law found a video of a woman being unknowingly followed by Garland on his home computer.
Garland, of Glenhove Road, Cumbernauld, was residing with the two witnesses between January and June, 2013, when the incidents took place.
While using a computer owned by Garland, the male resident noticed an application open showing a video of a woman being followed while the camera zoomed in on her buttocks. The video had been downloaded from a Nokia Lumia device, which Garland was known to own.
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The male immediately took the findings to his mother-in-law who confronted Garland, who was her partner at the time, when he arrived home. After demanding that he hand over his phone, the pervert then fled the house, pursued by the witnesses until they eventually lost sight of him.
They reported the shocking findings to police, who then attended at the address and confiscated various devices used by the suspect, including a Nokia Lumia and Sony mobile, a PC, laptop and memory card.
On the devices, officers found a stash of files including pictures and videos taken by Garland in places including Buchanan Galleries and Central Station.
A total of 359 files where women were followed while the camera zoomed in on their buttocks were found.
Over 700 other files taken in restaurants, Subway stations and crowded areas were also uncovered. Garland was seen to be focusing on the women’s buttocks with some faces also visible.
Another 123 files were found that had been filmed on public transport.
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There were various files found filming women 'upskirt', several of which showed their underwear without their knowledge, taken on an escalator, in changing rooms and at a wedding.
Officers were able to identify Garland through 16 files which had been filmed over his shoulder, showing his face and jewellery.
It was noted that the women in the files were not aware of being filmed.
The accused later pleaded guilty to recording an image of genitals, buttocks and underwear of unknown females with the intention of enabling himself or another person to look at the image and to placing a recording device so as to enable filming underneath the skirts of said females.
At Glasgow Sheriff Court last November, Garland's solicitor claimed his client was “crying out for a community-based disposal” and had fully cooperated with police.
Sheriff Stuart Reid concluded that there was a direct alternative to a custodial sentence and ordered Garland to carry out 275 hours of unpaid work within a period of six months. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for five years.
Returning to court this week, Sheriff Reid was told that Garland was unable to complete his unpaid work on time due to ill health.
The sheriff granted a nine-month extension, but requested a medical report to confirm that the accused was fit enough to undertake the unfinished work.
Sheriff Reid warned Garland: "This was imposed as an alternative to custody. I wanted to flag this up to you."
A review was set for November.
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