Perthshire hotel boss facing jail for sexually assaulting two female members of staff

A co-owner of two hotels who preyed on and abused female members of his staff is facing jail.

Gary Adam, 35, "used his power as the boss" to intimidate and sexually assault two women, an 18-year-old university student working as a waitress and a 23-year-old barmaid, Falkirk Sheriff Court was told.

The incidents occurred at the Waverley hotel and the Crags hotel, both co-owned by Adam, and opposite each other in the main street of Callander, Perthshire.

Jurors heard the 18-year-old had been working for Adam for only a week when he made a pass at her while she was in another local pub playing pool, forcing her to tell him when she saw him at work that she "didn't want to lose her job - or have sex with him".

Within hours, however, he asked her into the office at the Waverley hotel on the "ruse" that she needed a new uniform T-shirt, pushed her against a wall, put his hand "quite tightly" round her neck, kissed her forcibly on the lips, and tried to put his hand down the front of her jeans.

The woman told jurors he was "growling or grunting" in her ear and said he would "snap her like a twig".

She said: "He's quite strong, ex-army, and I'm five foot three."

She left "in shock and disbelief" but later that night Adam sexually assaulted her again, "touching her bum" in a darkened hotel kitchen as she bent over to get cutlery.

The incidents occurred on 8 December 2019, and the next day she gave two weeks' notice.

The court heard Adam sexually assaulted the 23-year-old woman repeatedly in January 2020 while she was working at the Crags hotel.

Weeping, she said he had followed her into a walk-in cupboard where she fetching juice, pulled the door to, so it locked behind them, then pinned her "forcibly" against the wall with two hands on her shoulders and tried to kiss her.

She said she was "frozen" and "scared" and didn't know what to do, but suddenly a customer called from the bar, and she was able to leave.

Later Adam, who had earlier been drinking with friends, returned alone and "a bit more drunk" and asked her for the key to one of the hotel bedrooms.

He then texted a demand that she deliver a Peroni beer to the bedroom, and after she left it outside he opened the door, grabbed her wrist, "dragged" her in, pushed her back onto the bed, held her arms above her head and tried to kiss her.

She said she "just kept saying no" and eventually he told her to go back to the bar but refused to give her back her phone - which he had pushed away from her grasp on the bed.

When he returned it later, the text message asking her to take beer to his room had been deleted.

The court heard Adam later told the woman "it would never happen again", but three weeks later after finishing her shift at the Crags she went over to the Waverley to see friends and Adam approached her and asked her if she would give him a lift back to his home on the outskirts of Callander.

She thought it awkward if she refused, and on the short drive he asked her if she would stay with him in one of the hotel rooms.

When she turned him down, he demanded she stop and let him out. Before she had the chance to turn off the engine of her car he climbed over, sat on top of her, forced her head back, and forced her mouth open with his hand.

She said: "He managed to get it open and put his tongue down my throat. I just sat there. I didn't know what to do. He put his hand in my leggings and under my underwear. His fingers touched my private area. They didn't go inside, but they were very close to."

"Scared and disgusted", the woman managed to call a random number on her phone, and when Adam realised, he stopped and asked to be driven the rest of the way home.

After a three-day trial, the jury found father-of-one Adam, a first offender, of Cambusmore, Callander, guilty of five charges of sexually assaulting the women.

He described himself in evidence as "a scumbag" for cheating on his own partner, but denied the offences, claiming that in some cases what the women had said did not happen, and when it had happened, it was with consent.

Prosecutor Cheryl Clark said Adam had perpetrated "a pattern of systematic abuse against the two young women, engineered situations to be alone with them, and used fear, intimidation, physical strength, and his powerful role as their employer to manipulate the situation".

Sheriff Christopher Shead continued bail for reports, placed Adam on the sex offenders' register, and warned a custodial sentence would be considered.

Adam will appear again on 31 March.

Defence advocate Wendy Hay reserved mitigation.

Story from Tim Bugler of The Central Scotland News Agency Ltd.