Football coach 'humiliated' office colleague with secret 'upskirting' photographs

A SCOTTISH football boss used a mobile phone to upskirt a “humiliated” work colleague.

Myles Allan, 44, took two pictures and two short videos of the woman’s thighs as she sat at her desk in an office in West Lothian. Allan claimed he had snapped the images by “accidentally” brushing his hand against the phone while he worked alongside the woman in July 2019.

He claimed to have “immediately” deleted them but he was caught out after copies of the recordings were uploaded to his work laptop via the iCloud function. The shocked victim then found the smutty images on Allan’s old laptop when a colleague used the device a month after he had left the company.

The woman, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons, discussed the matter with her husband before making a report to the police. Allan denied a charge of operating equipment beneath the woman’s clothing with the intention of observing her genitals, buttocks or underwear and stood trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday.

Myles Allan outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court

Allan started his football management career at Burntisland Shipyard and Dundonald before moving on to Sauchie and Rosyth Juniors. He then joined Berwick Rangers as a first team scout in 2016 and soon became co-manager of the team’s U20’s before being promoted to first team coach.

After leaving the Shielfield Park outfit Allan, a married father-of-two, was appointed to the coaching staff team at Jeanfield Swifts women’s team in March 2019. The victim told the court the images were recorded without her knowing and took place when she and Allan were alone in the office.

She said she remembered him staring at her during the day and there had been an “uneasy” and “frosty” feeling between the pair. She said Allan was sacked from the firm soon after and had to hand back his company laptop and mobile phone.

The woman said she then saw the four images focusing up her skirt and showing her upper legs when a colleague had cause to use Allan’s old laptop.

She said: “They were taken of the top of my thighs when I was wearing a dress. My legs are under my desk and showing my underwear. When my colleague showed me I was shocked and in disbelief. I felt disgusted, humiliated and very angry.

“I felt physically sick at what I should do. I trusted him and I felt betrayed.”

After contacting her husband the woman called in the police and Allan was subsequently arrested and charged.

Allan, from Dunfermline, Fife, also gave evidence and admitted taking the images while his phone was “propped up” on his desk.

But the football coach told the court he believes they were taken as his hand had “accidentally” brushed against the mobile while the camera app was open. He said he later spotted the images on the phone and had “deleted them immediately” from the camera roll.

But Allan was caught out after copies were transferred to a file on his company laptop as both devices were connected by the iCloud function.

Sheriff Graham Primrose QC found Allan guilty of the offence stating he found the coach’s excuse as “highly unlikely”.

The sheriff placed Allan on the Sex Offenders Register and deferred sentence to next month for the preparation of social work reports.