THE former chairman of Ukip in Scotland has been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register after he admitted making a string of vulgar phone calls to women.
Arthur Misty Thackeray, 55, admitted carrying out 10 sexual offences between October 2007 and December 2015 involving 10 different women.
He took some of the numbers from posters advertising slimming classes and phoned the unsuspecting women.
The calls were made from his home in Glasgow’s east end, and at Colme Street, Edinburgh which also houses the offices of Ukip Scotland leader and MEP David Coburn.
Thackeray pleaded guilty to nine charges of intentionally sending, or directing “sexual verbal communication” between December 1, 2010 and December 19, 2015.
One charge pre-dates the Sexual Offences Act brought in in 2009 and was a breach of the peace charge between October 2007 and February 2008.
Yesterday, Thackeray avoided jail as he was handed a community payback order with the condition he will be supervised for three years. He will also carry out 270 hours of unpaid work within nine months and will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for three years.
Sheriff Martin Jones QC told him: “Be under no illusion, these offences you committed against these women are serious and caused distress.”
The women’s ages ranged from 25 to 66 at the time of the offences.
Thackeray told one woman he was watching adult material and thinking of her and was carrying out a sex act.
Procurator-fiscal depute Mark Allan said a 25-year-old female received a text from Thackeray talking about meeting at a swinger’s club.
She called him and he apologised and said he had the wrong number, then sent a message saying “You sounded really nice on the phone, do you know what I would like to do to you?”
Her partner then pretended to Thackeray the woman was a 14-year-old girl to make the calls stop.
The new mother later told police she was “terrified”.
He phoned four of the women on December 18, 2015 including a 33-year-old to whom he asked inappropriate sexual questions.
In some of his calls the victims could hear sexual activity in the background, making them think he was watching pornographic material when talking to them.
Although the calls were made from a withheld number, the woman’s phone service provider was able to help trace the number registered to Thackeray.
His home was searched and phones recovered and analysed.
One woman described being “disgusted” and one said she also felt “violated and alarmed”.
Defence lawyer Callum Hiller said his client has given up alcohol since committing the offences.
He said: “He now completely regrets his actions, he fully understands the significant distress his behaviour would have caused, if he could take it back he most certainly would.”
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