Police efforts to find a man who “spooked” women walking in woods in Callander in December have hit a dead end.
Fears were raised in rural areas after a woman and her daughter reported being followed by a man “lurking” behind them on a cycle track in Callander.
But a top cop who lives in the area himself says it is now suspected that the man was not a local - and that his own belief is that it may have been someone with mental health issues whose intentions may have been misunderstood.
At a meeting of Stirling Council’s public safety committee last week, Trossachs and Teith councillor Martin Earl said there had been a “worrying set of circumstances” with three separate incidents reported- in rural, isolated locations which were used by walkers and runners, including women.
He added: “I know a lot of resource was allocated to this, but I’m not aware that anything transpired from that and it seemed to stop.
“Have there been any other reports of a similar nature in that locality or others? There was a lot of concern in the community at the time about this.”
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In a report to the committee police representatives said: “In December there were three incidents reported to police of males acting suspiciously, one in Aberfoyle and two in Callander. These followed reports of similar incidents in Aberfoyle in October.
“Officers carried out high- visibility cycle and foot patrols in the area and secured the assistance of air support, mounted branch and dog branch colleagues to carry out searches of the area.
“Local community officers thereafter conducted community surgeries in both Aberfoyle and Callander where they provided safety advice to members of these local communities.”
Forth Valley area commander Chief Superintendent Alan Gibson told committee members that such worrying and concerning incidents for rural communities tended to be heightened and social media was not always helpful because of some misinformation.
However, he stressed that this did not minimise the concerns and distress of those involved which were taken seriously.
He said mounted police had been brought from Ayrshire to patrol the area because of their ability to reach more difficult terrain.
And he added: “We spent a huge amount of time gathering information from those who witnessed it but had relatively difficult descriptions to work with of the individual.
“Both areas also receive so many tourists and it’s difficult to know if this was someone local - which we don’t think it was - or that it was someone who has come from somewhere else.”
Chief Supt Gibson said despite being in a rural area, both Aberfoyle and Callander were within an hour’s drive for 50 per cent of the population.
“We came to the conclusion that it was someone from outwith the local population. To my knowledge there have been no reports in recent times.”
He said it was a “matter of regret” that no one had been traced and offered some assurances that no physical contact had been made with witnesses, although acknowledged this “doesn’t make it any less frightening” for those involved.
He added: “I live in that area and was able to give some comfort on this.
“The matter appears to have stopped but we are not going to be complacent should this individual return.
“I believe there may be an element of mental health issues and their intentions have been misunderstood - but that’s just a personal view.”
Councillor Earl told Chief Supt Gibson: “I think your comment about the capacity of social media to go off in different directions is well made. I would echo that completely.”
Forth and Endrick councillor Gerry McGarvey added: “Your response for women in my area was greatly appreciated and the myth-busting by officers. That ability to put people at ease about what to do and not to do was very welcome.”
