Man fined for taking photograph

The fine was handed down at Edinburgh Sheriff Court

A man who took a photograph of an ill woman outside an Edinburgh bar has been fined £100 after being branded "unchivalrous" by a sheriff.

The woman had been drinking with friends in an Omni Centre bar when she felt unwell and went outside for air.

Sebastian Przygodzki took a photograph with his camera, which upset Rebecca Smith and her friends called police.

He was arrested and charged with breach of the peace, and pleaded guilty to the offence at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Przygodzki, 28, who moved to Scotland two years ago from Krakow, told police he had spent the day taking photographs of performers at the Edinburgh festival, which was in full swing at the time.

The lady concerned was entitled to her privacy and not to have a passing stranger take a photograph Sheriff Kenneth Hogg Edinburgh Sheriff Court

When he came across the woman, he considered it "taking a photo of another view of Edinburgh", said his lawyer, Andy Houston.

But Sheriff Kenneth Hogg said the matter "could be best described as exceptionally unchivalrous".

"The lady concerned was entitled to her privacy and not to have a passing stranger take a photograph," said the sheriff.

"I'm going to impose a fine to remind him chivalry is not dead and when somebody is in distress you leave them to it."

Fiscal depute Mhairi Vernon, prosecuting, said Ms Smith had become unwell in the bar in the city's Greenside Place about 2330 BST on Friday 8 August.

Mr Houston said Przygodzki, a first offender who lives with his girlfriend and works as a postman in Edinburgh, had enrolled in an arts and social sciences degree and was sorry for the "error of judgement".

"It was ill-judged, it was a spontaneous act and entirely inappropriate," said the solicitor.

"He accepts it was conduct liable to cause upset and did in fact cause upset.

"It's been a matter of severe regret for him. He's extremely anxious and very contrite about the affair."