A Dundee man who threatened to display nude images of a woman has become one of the first to be prosecuted under legislation which came into force in July.
Kieran Coyle, 20, of Laird Street, admitted threatening the woman in a so-called “revenge porn” assault in August.
Coyle is thought to be the first Dundee resident charged under the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016.
A national campaign was launched by the Scottish Government following the implementation of the law, which saw eye-catching posters adorn streets with nude pictures covered only with crime scene tape.
Perpetrators have been warned they could face up to five years in prison if found guilty of committing crimes against the act.
However, Coyle was spared jail when he appeared for sentencing at Dundee Sheriff Court on Wednesday. Instead, he was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
At his August trial, the court heard Coyle met the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, through a dating app before communicating with her on social media.
They exchanged “explicit” pictures with each other but the relationship ended after the woman failed to repay money he had loaned to her.
Coyle then threatened to post an image of the woman on social media to gain retribution for his due debt.
Solicitor Jim Laverty, representing Coyle, told the court that his client was “very embarrassed with himself”.
Mr Laverty said: “They met through a dating app and communicated through social media.
“They then found difficulties because Mr Coyle, who was in full-time employment at the time, offered to lend her money.
“The money was then not repaid and he intimated that he would share the image because of this.
“It was a threat but it was probably a threat that he would have never carried out.
“He accepts that this would have caused stress to the young lady.
“He is very embarrassed with himself.
“The image we are dealing with was not of a particularly indecent nature but, nonetheless, it was an image that may have caused the young lady distress.
“He asked me to apologise on his behalf for the stress he caused.”
Coyle admitted trying to cause the woman fear, alarm or distress by threatening to disclose the photograph of her, in an intimate situation, which had not been disclosed to the public previously, over social media.
