Benjamin-Cornel Teglas

On 27 May 2023, Benjamin-Cornel Teglas, a 20-year-old Big Issue seller from Wester Hailes in Edinburgh, committed a serious sexual offence at the John Lewis store in St James Quarter. The incident occurred around 2:20 pm when Teglas, who had been loitering in the vicinity of the women's toilets for approximately 18 minutes, entered a cubicle in the female toilet area. CCTV footage captured him checking to ensure no one was watching before hiding inside.

The victim, a 22-year-old woman shopping with her sister, unknowingly entered the adjacent cubicle and locked the door. As she began using the facilities, she looked down and saw Teglas with his head under the partition, peering into her stall. Shocked and alarmed, she froze momentarily before shouting, 'What do you think you are doing?' Teglas maintained eye contact with her for a few seconds before withdrawing his head and eventually fleeing the scene after peering out from his cubicle.

The distressed woman immediately ran from the toilet area and alerted store staff. Police officers reviewed the CCTV footage to identify the perpetrator and subsequently arrested Teglas. At Edinburgh Sheriff Court, he pleaded guilty to observing a woman doing a private act by occupying a cubicle in the women's toilet area and placing his head through the gap under the cubicle to look into hers. The plea was entered last month with the aid of a Romanian interpreter, and sentencing took place on Thursday, 3 August 2023.

Fiscal depute India McLean detailed the events to the court, emphasising the victim's alarm and the brazen nature of the act. Defending lawyer Mary Moultrie noted that Teglas was a first offender who fully accepted responsibility for his actions. She highlighted his full-time employment selling the Big Issue and his intention to return to Scotland to live, despite an unrelated outstanding matter in Romania.

Sheriff Peter McCormack acknowledged the seriousness of the offence, stating: 'You pleaded guilty at a trial diet to a serious sexual offence whereby you entered the ladies toilets at John Lewis in Edinburgh on May 27. CCTV showed you were loitering for around 18 minutes and in the course of that period you looked under a partition greatly to the alarm of a young woman there. The offence meets the custody threshold but I note your age and you have no previous convictions.'

Opting for an alternative to custody due to Teglas's youth and lack of prior convictions, the sheriff sentenced him to 135 hours of unpaid work in the community. Additionally, Teglas was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years. The case was handled by Police Scotland, with the incident occurring in Edinburgh city centre.