A man convicted of carrying out a sexual assault on another man in a cramped cupboard has been ordered to perform unpaid work.
Greg Baxter was found guilty of kissing the man’s neck before touching his chest during the cupboard sexual assault in September 2019.
Baxter told his trial at Dundee Sheriff Court that he had only come close to the man in the cupboard to return a key.
But a sheriff did not believe Baxter’s version of events and found him guilty of two counts of sexual assault.
The 35-year-old has now been placed on the sex offenders register for one year as part of a community payback order.
Giving evidence his victim, who cannot be named, said he “froze” after Baxter began kissing the back of his neck.
He told the court: “I had my back to him at that point.
“He started off by kissing the right side of my neck. For the first few seconds I froze, I was just shocked.
“I didn’t know what to do or what to think.”
The witness said he then wandered around “aimlessly” after the incident.
The following day, the men had a chance meeting in a car park where Baxter asked the man why he was acting “weird” before touching him on the chest.
The man reported the incident and gave a statement to the police.
During his own evidence, Baxter, who was sacked from his job as a courier following the conviction, was lying about the incident.
While under cross-examination, Baxter said: “I came in and said ‘it’s only me’.
“I had come round to the side of him to put the key back.
“I was very close but I wasn’t inappropriate.”
Baxter claimed that during the meeting in the car park the next day, he only discussed the fact he couldn’t lend the man money for a holiday.
Sheriff Tom Hughes found first offender Baxter, of Pitkerro Road, guilty of sexually assaulting the man by kissing him on the neck without consent on September 16 2019.
He also convicted him of sexually assaulting him the following day by touching him on the chest without consent.
Defence solicitor Jim Laverty said the consequences of Baxter’s conviction had been “catastrophic.”
Sheriff Hughes ordered Baxter to perform 200 hours of unpaid work as well as placing him on the sex offender’s register and supervision for one year.
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