East Lothian dog walker stalked woman after her dog mounted his pet

A dog owner carried out a stalking campaign against a woman '“ after he caught her mutt mounting his pet.
Edinburgh Sheriff CourtEdinburgh Sheriff Court
Edinburgh Sheriff Court

David Page followed and filmed the woman for over five years after he spotted her Labradoodle becoming frisky with his greyhound-cross while out on a walk.

Page used a Go-Pro camera, a mobile phone and a long-lens camera to intimidate the woman and her family while they took their own dog out for walks in Dunbar, East Lothian.

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The terrified victim was forced to change her dog walking routine and Page’s campaign of intimidation eventually came to a stop when he called in the police to complain about the woman’s husband shouting at him in the street.

He called in cops to look at the footage of the abuse he had captured but then incriminated himself after the officers spotted numerous recordings of the woman and her family on his phone.

Page denied the allegations but was found guilty of causing fear and alarm to the woman and her family between January 2012 and October 2017 following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last July.

He was also found guilty of a separate charge of using abusive language towards employees at East Lothian Council during a phone call on October 8, 2017.

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Sheriff Alistair Noble issued Page with a four-year non-harassment order banning him from approaching the woman and deferred sentence to yesterday.

Page was due to return to court for sentencing yesterday but Sheriff Noble was told Page had missed his train and would be attending court late.

Sheriff Noble decided to deal with the case in his absence and deferred sentence for a further six months for Page to adhere to the non-harassment order and be of good behaviour.

Previously the court heard from the victim who said she and her family had been left “terrified” due to Page’s unpredictable behaviour and left in “fear of what he might do” to her.

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She said she felt “like his target” and was “constantly looking over my shoulder” during the five-year harassment campaign.

She added the filming had been “constant” and the “only place she felt safe was in her home”.

The woman said she was subsequently advised by police officers to carry a panic alarm while out with her dog.

PC Sean Douglas said: “The footage showed he was already recording them before anything was said – he incriminated himself.”

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Page was found guilty of engaging in a course of conduct that caused fear and alarm by repeatedly watching, following and filming the woman and members of her family in Dunbar, between January 1, 2012 and October 8 2017 following a summary trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last July.