A Scone man who groped a schoolgirl after buying her alcohol has admitted being the source for many of the village’s underage drinkers.
Hairdresser Clive McMahon assaulted the 14-year-old by grabbing her breast as she stood at a bus stop with friends.
The 53-year-old said he had simply been trying to “give her a cuddle”, though he claimed he remembered almost nothing of the incident.
And, though he even admitted going as far as giving his phone number to local youngsters including his victim to be used when they needed drink, he appeared to minimise his actions.
In an interview with social workers, he claimed that the teenagers’ parents were to blame, rather than him, as they gave their children too much pocket money.
Appearing in the dock for sentencing on Wednesday, McMahon was placed on the sex offenders register for two years.
Under the terms of a community payback order he was also prohibited from providing alcohol to any person under the age of 18,was told to seek alcohol treatment, and was ordered to undertake 125 hours of unpaid work.
During an earlier court appearance depute fiscal Jim Eodonable told the court: “The complainer and her friends were at the bus stop with the accused.
“They could be described as casual acquaintances. They had bumped into each other and walked to the bus stop.
“She formed the opinion that he was drunk. He said goodbye and leaned in to give her a hug, with both of his arms over her shoulders.
“The complainer wasn’t comfortable with this but didn’t do anything to shrug the hug off.
“As he was moving away, one of his hands took hold of one of her breasts. It was for a sufficiently long time that two of her friends saw what happened. They were shocked.”
McMahon, of Birch Avenue, initially denied the offence, but later admitted intentionally touching the teenager’s breast in Perth’s South Street on February 1 this year.
Solicitor Alison Mackay said her client could remember nothing of the incident but, nonetheless, accepted his responsibility for it.
She added that her client was not facing any charges in relation to his other admissions and had stopped buying alcohol for teenagers.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told McMahon that he found his behaviour “concerning”, saying: “You are blaming everyone else for your criminal behaviour, as opposed to taking responsibility for it yourself, and it is with yourself that responsibility lies.”