A dangerous sex criminal who vanished from his home in England was found secretly working as a night porter at a top Perthshire wedding venue.
Brandon Foskett was subject to monitoring by police in Northumberland when he covertly travelled nearly 200 miles to take up a residential post at Dunkeld House Hotel.
The 24-year-old was found out when he dropped in unannounced at Perth police station to tell officers about his change of address.
Foskett, who has a history of dishonesty, violence and sexual offending, appeared at the city’s sheriff court and admitted breaching a Risk of Sexual Harm Order (RoSHO) by failing to report the change within three days.
Employment was ‘concerning’
Sheriff William Wood told Foskett at Perth Sheriff Court: “Although it is to your credit that you self-reported your presence in Perthshire to the police, it is also concerning that you were able to obtain employment at a local hotel, where you would have had capacity to access various parts of the hotel as part of your duties.”
He said: “It seems that you have managed to accumulate quite a large and varied record for someone relatively young.
“Because this is the second breach of this order the most appropriate disposal is a custodial sentence.”
Foskett, listed as a prisoner in Perth, was jailed for 10 months, but will be released immediately having already served the equivalent of an 11-month sentence on remand.
Disclosed private photos
Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson said Foskett was previously sentenced for disclosing private sexual photographs and films with the intention of causing distress.
“The accused was made subject to a RoSHO November 2020 at Tyneside Magistrate Court for a period of two years.
“The accused breached the order and was then placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
“He is currently being managed in the community by Northumbria Police as a potentially dangerous person and is subject to full sex offender notification requirements.”
She told the court: “At about 3.30pm on November 24 2021, the accused attended at Perth police station.
“He told staff that he was subjected to a RoSHO and was required to notify police about his address.”
Detectives carried out a background check and found Foskett had last notified authorities about a change of address in Newcastle at the beginning of August 2021.
Ms Hodgson said: “Since October 26 2021, there had been several issues regarding his exact whereabouts.
“Northumberland Police attended at his registered address in early November, but occupants said they had no knowledge of his whereabouts.”
She said the manager of the Dunkeld House Hotel confirmed to police the accused started as a night porter on the October 26 2021.
He was living in staff accommodation.
When told he was going to be arrested for a breach of his RoSHO, Foskett replied: “I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been staying there for about a month.
“I didn’t know who to contact.”
Never in company of hotel guests
Solicitor John McLaughlin, defending, told the court: “He has gone three years without work.
“His friend found work at the hotel and phoned to tell him work was available.
“He was working night shift and was never in the company of guests.”
The hotel’s general manager Gary McDonald said: “Whilst this issue relates to the period prior to the current ownership of the hotel, we can confirm that this individual is no longer an employee and has not been on active duty at the hotel from the moment the hotel was made aware of this issue.”
