There was a sexual element to perv's secret snaps

John Kane (67), 12/3 Breton Court, Falkirk was in police custody for another offence when officers caught him trying to flush the small micro SD memory card down the toilet.

A subsequent search of the device by the cyber crime unit revealed 60 short videos ranging from 30 seconds to three minutes in length which all featured females in shops in Falkirk with the camera zooming in on their legs and bottoms.

There were also videos of three children aged between six and 12 at the Central Retail Park near to Tesco and Next stores – one of the children is seen doing a cartwheel and the camera zooms in on her crotch area.

Appearing at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday, Kane had previously pled guilty to the breach of the peace he committed between July 15 and July 22 last year.

Martin Morrow, defence solicitor, said: “I have to concede a serious sexual element is a reasonable assessment of the situation here. The emphasis was on people’s legs.”

Interviewed by police, Kane said he “had a drink in him” at the time the videos were filmed.

Asked if what he had done had aroused him, he said: “It did at the time, but afterwards I felt ashamed about it.”

Following his arrest on the other matter he asked to use the police station toilet and started acting suspiciously, putting his hands in and out of his pockets before attempting to flush the card.

While Kane was in police custody officers obtained a search warrant for his house and they discovered a pair of shoes there that matched those seen at the start of all the videos.

Sheriff Craig Caldwell said a Sexual Offences Prevention Order would be the preferred way to deal with Kane and was surprised the Crown Office had not considered it.

He deferred sentence until April 13 to allow the prosecution to draft such an order, which is likely to include a camera ban.

He said: “I could draft it myself, but it really should come from the Crown.”

Kane was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register.