A STALKER has been placed on a night time home curfew for the next nine months.

Sixty-year-old Peter Kingsley MacLeod pleaded guilty to engaging in a course of conduct which caused a woman fear and alarm.

Selkirk Sheriff Court heard how he sent her text messages and photos which showed he was outside her place of work, took photos of her with a long lens from a distance and followed her.

The offence happened at various locations in Galashiels between October 2021 and April 14 this year.

Prosecutor Drew Long said it was a classic stalking case of a victim receiving unwanted attention.

MacLeod had helped out in a Galashiels shop with the woman and her father but was asked not to come back after he admitted possession of indecent images of children at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

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Defence lawyer Liam Alexander said his client had displayed a bad reaction for social rejection.

He said his client felt the reports of his previous conviction in the media were not accurate and was upset at being asked to leave the shop.

Mr Alexander said the motives of his behaviour towards the woman were not sexual but he was trying to prove she was wrong.

He added that the self-employed planning consultant had become consumed by this resulting in the offending behaviour. Sheriff Peter Paterson said MacLeod should have realised that his behaviour would be terrifying to the woman given his previous conviction.

He imposed a night time curfew for the next six months keeping him in his Scott Street home between the hours of 7pm and 7am.

The sheriff also issued a non-harassment order banning MacLeod from having any contact with the woman for the next five years.