Man who filmed children at Barshaw Park walks free after sheriff ruling

Daily Record

a day ago

Sheriff Sukhwinder Gill ruled there was no criminal intent, describing the incident as a case of "naivety" and granting an absolute discharge.
A tourist who was seen filming a small child in a park has walked free from court after a sheriff ruled no criminality had taken place.
Janpreet Singh, 29, was confronted by a furious dad after he was spotted taking a video of the youngster at Barshaw Park in Paisley.
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The man filmed Singh and shared the footage on social media in a bid to identify him, sparking huge concern in the community.
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Singh had travelled from India to visit his sister who identified him from the video and went to police in March. She told officers he had been making videos to share with family in India.
Officers later found the video of the child along with two others showing swans and park scenes. Singh appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court and admitted filming the child.
But when he appeared for sentencing, Sheriff Sukhwinder Gill ruled no criminality had taken place and granted Singh an absolute discharge.
The rare move means that he will receive no punishment.
His lawyer had previously claimed there had been a 'certain level of naivety' involved in what Singh, who spent two nights in custody over the case, was doing.
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Sheriff Gill told him: "You went to Barshaw Park, you recorded videos and intended to send them to your family in India.
"I don't believe there was anything more to it than that. As a consequence of these proceedings you have chosen not to go home.
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"Given the Crown narrative and your explanation as to how the child was recorded by you, I do wonder why you pled guilty to this charge.
"I also question why your image was uploaded on social media, which in itself seemed to have caused huge concern in the local community that there was an Asian male in the park who may be a 'paedophile'."
The sheriff added: "I was going to admonish you, but I am going to take the unusual and exceptional step, not to proceed to conviction and grant you an absolute discharge.
"The reason for that is that I am not satisfied there was any criminality involved here. That is the end of the matter."