A notorious sex pest, once dubbed a danger to all women, is back on the streets despite receiving a two-year jail sentence for tormenting a woman in Perth city centre.
Robert Basterfield followed his victim as she walked along South Street and stared at her when she went into a café.
The 51-year-old serial sex offender, who was one time banned from being alone with any woman had appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted a charge of breach of the peace on December 4 2021.
The court heard the woman was alarmed by Basterfield’s behaviour at the 109 Café and decided to call the police after reading up on his criminal history.
Basterfield, listed as a prisoner at HMP Perth, was given a 24-month prison sentence and urged by a sheriff to stop being so “creepy”.
But he was allowed to walk free from court, having already spent the equivalent of a 26 month sentence on remand.
Avoid being abusive
Sheriff William Wood told Basterfield: “You will appreciate that the reason this matter is on indictment is because of your record.
“That being the case I am satisfied that a custodial sentence is appropriate.”
He said: “You have to realise that if you behave in this way, it is likely be that you will continue to come back to court and you will continue to be remanded.
“All you have to do is avoid doing anything abusive or anything that might be considered creepy by anyone.”
The jail sentence was backdated to the date of his arrest in December 2021.
“That means you will be released just as soon as the necessary paperwork is completed,” the sheriff said.
Uneasiness
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, said: “The crown accepts that there is no sexual element to this.
“It is a breach of the peace and nothing more.
“I would be inviting the court to deal with this by way of imposing a sentence which effectively has been served, because 26 months for a breach of the peace is fairly significant.”
Ms Clark pointed out a statement given to police by the cafe’s owner.
She told officers: “I didn’t feel intimidated at all. I just thought it felt awkward.
“Things like this happen all the time.”
The solicitor said: “The complainer certainly seems to feel uneasy about what happened but it was when she Googled his name that her uneasiness was enhanced and she took appropriate steps.”
History of offending
Australian-born Basterfield hit the headlines in 2007 as the first man in Britain to be banned from “accosting” lone women under a unique five-year sex offences prevention order.
Police branded him “highly dangerous” and claimed he was “capable of using extreme violence”. But they lost a fight to have him banned from solo contact with the opposite sex for 30 years.
The former taxi driver was twice prosecuted for hounding females in Perthshire and was jailed in 2006 for stalking a rugby club barmaid.
In 2021, he was back in court for breaching the terms of a Sexual Offenders Prevention Order by sending hand-drawn images of male genitals to two women from his prison cell.
He was sentenced to 13 months imprisonment, but was released later that day having already served time on remand.
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