David Levenson, 71, caught observing a woman in state of undress at Waverley Mall McDonald’s; pleads guilty in a court

David Levenson, a 71-year-old pensioner from Canonmills, Edinburgh, confessed to the unsettling act of peering at a woman while she used the toilet at a McDonald’s takeaway located in Waverley Mall. The incident, which occurred last year, prompted Levenson to evade capture momentarily before eventually turning himself into authorities.

According to Fiscal depute Peter Finnan, the woman and her young niece entered a cubicle at the restaurant’s toilet around 11 am on August 14 last year. While the woman was in a state of partial undress, she noticed Levenson peering over the cubicle partition, prompting her immediate confrontation. Despite her efforts, Levenson remained silent and attempted to conceal himself within his cubicle.

Upon leaving the cubicle, Levenson dismissed the woman’s accusations by claiming he was merely “doing the toilet” before eluding her pursuit. Three weeks later, he surrendered himself to St Leonard’s police station following a public appeal.

During the court hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Levenson pleaded guilty to observing the woman during a private act while she was partially undressed within the McDonald’s toilet cubicle. Solicitor Kirsty Harper, defending Levenson, characterized the incident as an “opportunist deviant act,” indicating a lack of prior criminal behaviour.

In response, Sheriff Gillian Sharp placed Levenson on the Sex Offenders Register and deferred sentencing for the preparation of social work reports, scheduled for next month. While Levenson admitted guilt to observing the woman on August 14, a not-guilty plea to a similar offence on September 25, 2021, was accepted by the Crown