Perverted former Ayrshire teacher took upskirt photos

Brian Smith took the upskirt images while he was employed as an English teacher at both Stewarton Academy in East Ayrshire and Wellington School in Ayr.

The indecent photos were surreptitiously snapped over a near seven-year period between June 2015 and January 2022.

The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to a pair of charges in relation to operating equipment beneath the clothing of females at both schools - with the intention of enabling himself or another to observe the genitals, buttocks or underwear of the victims - when he appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on Tuesday, November 5.

The court heard that the incidents only came to light when Smith, of Cardhu Gardens in Kilmarnock, committed another offence - a breach of the peace - which he also admitted in the dock this week.

This incident took place on January 25 of last year at Tesco on West Shaw Street in Kilmarnock, procurator fiscal depute Gemma McKechnie told the court.

She explained that at around 5pm that day, the security guard on duty in the store was approached by a female who stated that Smith had been following her around the shop.

The woman was distressed and wanted to leave quickly, so the guard was unable to take any further information from her.

(Image: Street View)

However, following her exit, the staff member viewed the store's CCTV footage and was able to view the female walking down a shop aisle - with Smith following closely behind.

The footage showed he was standing close by with a mobile phone in hand. The guard noted that when the woman bent down to get an item he appeared to hold his phone as if to take an image up her skirt.

The woman seemed unaware of the action, which would take place once more later in her shopping trip. She was still unaware of Smith's actions when she approached the security officer.

No action was taken at the time although when Smith returned to the shop at a later date, when the same guard was on duty, he was monitored on CCTV until he left the store.

His details were then passed to police and a search warrant was obtained for his property.

(Image: Street View)

A MacBook laptop and a hard drive were later analysed and found to contain "voyeuristic" images which depicted people associated with both Stewarton Academy and Wellington School.

Two pictures contained ex-pupils, to whom he taught English at Stewarton Academy, with one described to the court as showing the teenage girl's "legs and thigh exposed".

A further five images showed colleagues of the Kilmarnock man within both classroom and staff room settings at the East Ayrshire school.

Pictures varied from showing their upper body and legs to capturing up the skirts that the female staff members were wearing.

Brian Smith. (Image: Staff/X)

When informed of the images, they said they felt "trust was violated", "vulnerable and uncomfortable", "shocked and angry" and "sick".

A further three pictures were captured at Wellington School where Smith worked from January of 2019 until 2023. Each of the images showed members of staff from the school.

These showed the face and legs of the women, with one showing "a clear view up the skirt" of one member of staff while she exited her car.

The woman said the pictures made her feel "alarmed, disgusted and unsafe", "violated" and "uncomfortable, shocked and concerned".

Brian Smith. (Image: Staff/X)

Following his admissions, Sheriff Murdoch Mactaggart continued Smith's case to a later date and asked prosecutors to clarify some issues raised with their narrative of events.

Defence advocate Janice Green withheld a plea in mitigation until the sentencing hearing.

Smith was granted bail until his next appearance, and was added to the sex offenders register in the interim.

When approached for comment, East Ayrshire Council stated they could not provide a detailed response but confirmed Smith is no longer in their employment.

Wellington School headmaster, Simon Johnson, added: "Parents of Wellington pupils were informed in March 2023 that a member of the senior school staff, Mr Brian Smith, was absent from school as the result of an incident that was the subject of police enquiry. 

"Mr Smith subsequently resigned and has not been employed by the school since that time.

"The police worked closely with the school throughout their investigations, and we took immediate action when the matter came to light. No Wellington pupils were involved in their enquiries.

"Wellington School follows national safeguarding and child protection guidelines and full details of these can be found on the school website.  

"Any pupil or parent with concerns or questions is encouraged to contact the child protection officer or another appropriate member of staff.  

"The school adheres to best practice in the recruitment of staff and all employees are members of the PVG scheme administered by Disclosure Scotland."