BORDERS PUB OWNER JAILED FOR SERIES OF SEX ASSAULTS
A pub owner from the Borders who owned the Ship Inn in Melrose has been convicted of multiple sexual offences.Keith McDonald, aged 48, was sentenced to eight months in jail and was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
The court heard that McDonald indecently assaulted two female staff members over a period of years, touching one woman's breasts and buttocks repeatedly between 2001 and 2011, which led her to avoid contact with him.
In 2007, he assaulted another woman in a sexual manner, prompting her to leave her job.
Additionally, McDonald made inappropriate sexual remarks to staff over a decade and exposed himself in front of members of the public and staff.
Most recently, on July 14 last year, he sexually assaulted an 18-year-old female customer by touching her breasts and placing his hand inside her clothing, an incident stopped by another customer.
The court emphasized that as the human resources manager, McDonald exploited his position, which he believed was acceptable, but which was deemed criminal behaviour by the court.
The judge described his actions as a serious abuse of power and highlighted that he had "abused his position as an employer." McDonald was also deemed responsible for hiring staff, and the court made it clear that his conduct was not trivial or joking but criminal.
