Man who flew drone over sister's home and hot tub is found guilty
Man who repeatedly flew a drone over his sister’s house as she relaxed in a hot tub and her teenage daughter sunbathed is found guilty of causing ‘fear’
- Allan Pollock, 44, targeted Hazel Burr who lived with her family in Glasgow
A man repeatedly flew a drone over his sister’s home and left his niece ‘creeped out’, a court heard.
Allan Pollock, 44, targeted Hazel Burr who lived with her family in Robroyston, Glasgow.
Company director Ms Burr, 51, saw the device hovering over her house while she was relaxing in her hot tub.
Her 19-year-old daughter, Katie Burr, was also disturbed when she spotted the drone overhead as she sunbathed in the garden, Glasgow Sheriff Court heard on Friday.
Katie and her father, Iain Burr, then decided to track where it was coming from and caught Pollock red-handed.
Allan Pollock, 44, targeted Hazel Burr who lived with her family in Robroyston, Glasgow
It emerged Pollock had also been loitering and driving past the Burrs’ home at different times of the day and night.
He has now been convicted of a charge of engaging in a course of conduct that put the Burr family in fear and alarm.
Prosecutors said Pollock, of Strathaven, Lanarkshire, repeatedly flew a drone device over their property.
He repeatedly attended and loitered within the vicinity of the house as well as acted in an abusive manner towards his sister Hazel. The charge spanned between November 2019 and October 2020.
Pollock will be sentenced next month at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
The trial initially heard from engineering student Katie Burr, who said she first saw the drone in early summer 2020.
She told the court: ‘When I was sunbathing during lockdown it was flying above my garden. It would hover over the garden – we would see it move a bit.
‘We would notice it and tell it to go away and it would fly away.
‘Sometimes it was during the day and point down when I was in the hot tub in the garden.
‘It would also come at eight or nine at night.’
Ms Burr then told how she and her father Iain, 59, followed the drone after spotting it. She said: ‘We drove around the corner and we saw someone with the remote control.’
Ms Burr said the man was her uncle, Allan Pollock.
Owners must not fly their drones over people or large crowds and must respect the privacy of others when flying a drone
When asked how she felt about it she replied: ‘I was sunbathing in my garden in a bikini – I found it a bit strange. I was creeped out.’
Hazel Burr went on to tell the trial how she recalled the drone ‘hovering’ over her home five or six times.
She also told of an incident when she spotted her brother driving next to her house. Pollock, an electrician, did not give evidence and no background to the crime was heard during the trial.
Finding him guilty, Sheriff Kevin McCarron told him: ‘I found the Crown witnesses credible and reliable.
‘In a difficult situation, they gave their evidence in a straightforward way and any inconsistencies were of a minor nature
‘Each of the three legs of the charge have been spoken to and corroborated and I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that they have been proved.’
The use of drones in Scotland is permitted, although with some restrictions.
Owners must not fly their drones over people or large crowds and must respect the privacy of others when flying a drone.
Drones must also never be flown over airports or in areas were aircraft are operating.
Rules state that they must be flown during daylight hours and only taken out in good weather conditions.
The use of drones or camera drones around sensitive areas such as government or military facilities is also prohibited.
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