A Dundee man stalked a council employee and sexually assaulted hospital patients.
Steven Saunders, 60, admitted bizarre offending including making a habit of arriving at the woman’s home, including knocking on her bedroom window at 3am.
His campaign was interrupted with a stay in Tayside psychiatric hospitals, where he groped female patients.
He is now on the sex offenders register and under the supervision of social workers and has been ordered by a court to engage with mental health treatment.
Stalked housing officer
Previously, Dundee Sheriff Court heard Saunders spent around two months stalking the council employee.
She first crossed paths with him in June 2022 through her work, helping him with jobs like cleaning and repairs.
The two became friends and even attended Scone Game Fair together but Saunders’ behaviour deteriorated.
After finding out where she lived, Saunders went to her home multiple times, uninvited.
It was made clear she did not want any more contact but in October 2022, he turned up at her home at 8pm and police were contacted.
At 3am the next morning he began knocking on her bedroom window so police took him away.
Later that day or the next, Saunders was again spotted standing outside the house but he left when police were called.
Time passed without further incident and the woman thought things had settled but in November 2022, her doorbell rang before 9am and she looked outside to see Saunders’ car.
Three days later she returned home to a hand-written note on her front door asking her to contact him and there was another note there two days later.
Three days after that, Saunders was dropped off at the property by a van driver, who the woman begged to take him away.
A final incident came in mid-December that year, when he drove past as she and a friend were walking on a rural road near the Sidlaws in Angus.
Hospital sex attacks
In the middle of Saunders’ stalking campaign, he was admitted to psychiatric wards in Tayside.
At the Moredun Ward in Murray Royal in Perth, he sexually assaulted another patient on October 20 2022.
Saunders was quickly moved the the Carseview Centre in Dundee but the next day and the one after that, he sexually abused another patient there.
On October 21, the woman was watching TV in the living room area of the hospital when Saunders arrived and exposed himself.
He took her hand and put it on his naked penis.
The following day, Saunders walked up to her in a hallway and grabbed her private parts over her clothing. He later exposed himself to her again.
Admissions
Saunders, of Balmoral Terrace in Dundee, previously admitted stalking the housing officer between October and December 2022 and two counts of sexual assault.
Sentencing had been deferred for the preparation of background reports.
Saunders’ solicitor Jim Laverty said: “It’s quite clear while it was not a medical… defence, Mr Saunders was very close to that.
“He’s been co-operating with various agencies.”
Sheriff Paul Brown placed Saunders under supervision for three years and on the sex offenders register for as long.
He made a conduct requirement mandating the accused to engage with mental health services as requested by his supervisor.
The sheriff said: “I think the real issue here is to make sure Mr Saunders has mental health treatment.
“While I note the nature of the offences and the serious aspects, there is a clear and detailed background of mental health issues.”
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