A woman sitting on the toilet in an Angus supermarket was “extremely alarmed” to see a man’s head appear in the cubicle beneath her.
Forfar Sheriff Court heard how 53-year-old Bronislaw Cybulski fled the women’s cubicles at the town’s Tesco on February 20, pursued by the woman.
Cybulski, of Glenmoy Terrace in Forfar, appeared with an interpreter and admitted a charge of observing a woman engaged in a private act by looking underneath a toilet cubicle.
Depute fiscal Hannah Kennedy said the woman was fully clothed at the time.
“The complainer was 44 years old at the time of the incident, and was at the female toilets in the Tesco in Castle Street, Forfar,” she said.
“She was just about to flush the toilet, when she saw the accused’s head appear under the partition between the cubicles.
“She was extremely alarmed and reported the incident to counter staff.”
The police attended and took statements from the complainer and accused, and took CCTV footage from the store.
Mrs Kennedy added that the footage “showed the accused leaving the toilets area in a hurry, pursued by the complainer.”
When asked by police as to the reason for his being in the female toilets, Cybulski said the men’s were “too dirty”.
Mrs Kennedy read Cybulski’s statement: “I went from the men’s to the female toilets, as I had stomach problems and the toilet was dirty.
“When I was taking my clothes down I must have dropped my car keys.
“When I bent down I heard a shout. When she screamed so frighteningly, I grabbed the key and ran away.”
Mrs Kennedy added: “It’s clear from the complainer’s statement that she never saw any keys.”
Defending Cybulski, solicitor Michael Boyd said his client had not come to the attention of the courts during his time in the UK.
“He’s been in the UK for seven or eight years and he’s got no offending history, or in Poland,” he said.
Sheriff Gregor Murray said Cybulski’s sentence would depend on the content of a background report.
He said of the keys: “It’s a very powerful mitigation if I believe him.”
Sentence was deferred to July 3 for the preparation of criminal justice social work reports and bail was continued.