A church elder found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenager and three women claimed that he was putting his hands out "for balance" due to his poor eyesight.
Colin Hope has been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register following a trial at Paisley Sheriff Court that heard one victim was so traumatised she had an anxiety attack while another was physically sick.
The 81-year-old grandfather was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl on a rail journey – by putting his hand up her skirt, between Johnstone and Glasgow Central in December 2016, reports the Daily Record.
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Hope, of Polson Drive in Johnstone, was also found guilty of sexually assaulting two Renfrewshire supermarket workers and a supermarket customer between June and December 2021.
Sheriff Ian Anderson placed the twisted pensioner on the Sex Offender’s Register for 12 months and made him subject to the supervision of the social work department.
CCTV footage from a Renfrewshire supermarket was shown during the trial which showed the father-of-two pushing a trolley with both hands on the handle.
The footage showed that – on multiple occasions – as Hope approached a woman in the aisles, he dropped a hand from the trolley and sexually assaulted her as he walked past her before putting both hands back on the trolley.
The trial also heard how a young woman was sexually assaulted on a train by an “old man” when she was heading to Glasgow to do her Christmas shopping.
The girl was just 15 at the time when Hope repeatedly touched her leg and put his hand up her skirt.
Giving evidence during the trial, she said she felt the incident was a “severe attack” which left her in “complete hysteria”.
She explained in evidence how she was on a “busy” train herself, from Ardrossan South Beach, North Ayrshire to Glasgow Central, on December 17, 2016, when Hope got on the train at Johnstone station.
She told the court: “There was a stop at Johnstone where a man got on the train and stood to my left and I remember starting to feel slightly uncomfortable.
“I noticed he was getting closer and I tried to reassure myself that the train was busy.
“But his hand was on my leg, my left leg on my upper thigh.
“I was wearing a skirt and his hand was going up my skirt.”
Prosecutor Jason Stark asked how long Hope’s hand was on the teenager’s thigh, and she replied: “A while. It was brushing.
“The whole movement was around 10 to 15 minutes, it was constant, it was a severe attack really.
“As soon as I got off the train I just broke down as soon as there was room for me to do so.
“I was crying, I was in complete hysteria. It was a complete anxiety attack. I headed out of the station.”
Further evidence was heard from a woman who told how Hope sexually assaulted her in a Renfrewshire supermarket on July 24, 2021, causing her to be physically sick.
The woman explained how she was looking for plastic or paper cups when Hope approached her in the aisle and went on to sexually touch her.
She was so concerned about the attack she followed the creepy pensioner around the store before returning to her car and calling her husband in tears.
She told the court she had to “physically vomit” when she returned home that evening due to the horrific ordeal.
And a supermarket employee explained she was sexually assaulted on December 17, 2021, by the retired procurement engineer.
In evidence, she told how Hope’s hand “brushed across her” and how he touched the “top of my groin area.”
During the trial, Hope denied the claims – telling the court he had an eye condition that affected his sight.
He claims the condition means he can see people but not their “finer details”.
In his own evidence, he told how all incidents were accidental touching as he would often put his hands out “for balance” and to ensure he “didn’t bump into anyone or anything”.
When asked if he repeatedly touched the supermarket workers, he replied, “not to my knowledge”
Defence agent, Linzi Galbraith explained Hope’s position “is the same as it was during the trial.”
Ms Galbraith told how Hope is “residing elsewhere” just now and explained how he is in the “process of being registered as partially sighted.”
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