YouTube 'pick-up artist' found guilty of threatening girls

A YOUTUBER who filmed himself chatting up young women was found guilty of five charges at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday (25).

Adnan Ahmed, a self-styled pick-up artist, was found guilty of targeting vulnerable girls. The 38-year-old secretly filmed himself approaching dozens of women in Glasgow and Eastern Europe.

Ahmed insisted what he did was educational, but a number of women said during the trial that they were intimidated by his approaches.

Remanding him in custody pending sentence, Sheriff Lindsay Wood said: "These convictions were a course of criminal contact involving young girls who were affected in a variety of ways.

"Two of them were schoolgirls and another was particularly vulnerable. These are of public concern."

One victim broke down in court while describing how Ahmed followed her through Glasgow city centre in 2016.

The woman said: "He tried to pull me close to him so he could kiss me, so I pushed him away.

"He put his hand on my cheek and other hand on my back and pulled me in.

"He just had pure lust in his eyes."

Another victim said that Ahmed accused her of being racist when she rejected his advances.

After the verdict was announced, Police Scotland's Det Insp Mark McLennan praised Ahmed’s victims for coming forward.

"The women Ahmed approached were subjected to harassment and were frightened by his unwanted attention.

"I want to pay tribute to the courage of these women in coming forward and giving evidence in order to bring Ahmed to justice, particularly as he appears to have expected them to tolerate his unwarranted and unwelcome behaviour.

"People need to realise they cannot expect their behaviour to be tolerated if it is causing offence and upset.

"I would encourage anyone who has been subjected to this type of behaviour to contact police and report it to Police Scotland."