Jail for putting lewd video of his ex online

Vindictive Derek Moffat was also handed a two-year non-harassment order in a bid to stop him “bombarding” the woman with e-mails and texts.

Moffat (43), of East Avenue, Viewpark, was sentenced after he admitted pursuing a course of conduct which caused his former girlfriend fear or alarm. It happened over a four-day period in August last year.

Hamilton Sheriff Court heard Moffat refused pleas to remove the offending video and his distressed ex cut short a holiday in Spain to return home and try to deal with the upsetting situation.

Apart from posting the video, Moffat sent the woman hundreds of e-mails, texts and What’s App messages over the course of a few days.

Passing sentence, Sheriff Daniel Kelly told him: “The video is the most serious aspect of this case. It wasn’t a one-off situation, it was prolonged because you refused immediately to take it down and the women’s friends had to contact Facebook to have it taken off the site.

“She herself was on holiday when you were bombarding her with texts and she had to cut short her two-week holiday by a week.

“There is not a great deal on your record, but I see no alternative to a custodial sentence.”

The court was told Moffat and the woman worked together. The video was seen by their manager and other work colleagues.

Defence agent Brian Selby said Moffat lost his job as a result. He told the court: “My client is deeply ashamed. He thought the relationship was coming to an end and he was losing her.

“He realises what he put this woman through with a bombardment of e-mails and other messages. He knows the video caused her deep embarassment.

“More than that, this has been significant harassment which he accepts caused her a lot of distress. For that he is sorry.”

Moffat claimed in an interview that he posted the explicit video by accident, but Mr Selby said that wasn’t the case.

The solicitor added: “He has given me no reasonable explanation, but says he refused to take down the video becasue of threats made to him by the woman’s ex-husband.”

Sheriff Kelly said he would attempt to protect the woman from further harassment by imposing a two-year order banning Moffat from contacting her in any way or posting references to her on social media sites.