Former teacher caught operating alleged dashcam underneath women's clothing at Cathouse nightclub

A former computer science teacher was caught operating an alleged dashcam under the clothing of women at a nightclub.

David Turnbull, 41, was snared with the device at Glasgow city centre’s Cathouse on April 22 2023.

Turnbull was earlier seen by members of the public and staff holding the flashing device near unknown women.

Turnbull – who is now a data analyst for the NHS – was found guilty on Tuesday at Glasgow Sheriff Court of breach of the peace.

Sheriff Allan McKay fined Turnbull £1,040 but stated there was “no sexual element” to the case and did not make him subject to the sex offenders register requirements.

The court heard from a woman who was at the Cathouse dancing with her partner.

She stated that she saw Turnbull, of Arbroath, Angus, with a device that was “blinking.”

The woman said: “I thought the placing of it was really out of place.

“The position and action of where the hand was on the device was not an accident.”

Prosecutor Stewart McLean asked the witness if there was anyone near where Turnbull was holding the device.

She replied: “Yes it looked purposeful to try and see up womens’ clothing.”

The woman later described Turnbull’s motions as an “opportunistic swipe.”

The witness stated that Turnbull’s actions lasted 20 seconds.

John Kilcoyne, defending, put it to the woman that she did not see his client focus on a particular woman.

She replied: “That’s correct.”

A former assistant head steward at Cathouse claimed that he received a report of a woman being uncomfortable.

He attended near the smoking area and followed Turnbull whose description he had earlier been passed.

The witness claimed that he found Turnbull near a woman.

The man said: “He bent down with some sort of device in his hand with a flashing light on it.”

Mr McLean asked: “How close was it?”

The man replied: “Too close for comfort.”

The witness added that Turnbull’s arm was outstretched and that the device had red lights on it

Turnbull was later apprehended by police who attended the nightclub.

PC Stuart Horborne told the court that the device was seized but did not contain a USB stick or a memory card inside it.

CCTV of one of the incidents was shown during the trial which Sheriff McKay stated “sealed” Turnbull’s conviction.

He said: “Any reasonable person might be caused alarm by that conduct.

“What he has in his hand is recording or gives an impression that something untoward is going on if it isn’t recording. It looked unusual and untoward.”

Mr Kilcoyne stated in his mitigation: “He has a degree in computer science from university.

“He worked in a secondary school teaching computer science and now works for the NHS as a data analyst – he has no previous convictions or outstanding cases.”