Racing tipster Kevin Booth accused of offering woman money for sex

The millionaire owner of a Highland lodge has gone on trial accused of communicating indecently with a woman.

Horse racing tipster Kevin Booth is alleged to have asked the woman intimate questions of a sexual nature and offered her money for sexual activity in 2022.

He denied the charges as the trial started at Wick Sheriff Court on Thursday.

Booth, 65, is separately appealing a civil court ruling earlier this year which stated that he trafficked and exploited women and violently whipped them both at Lochdhu Lodge in Caithness, and overseas.

The court heard from a woman in her 40s via video link from overseas as the criminal trial started.

She said she had seen a job advert on a Facebook group chat about a position in Scotland, and that part of the job involved “giving massages”.

The woman visited Lochdhu with her husband and decided to accept the job in August 2022.

She said she would give Booth massages once or twice a week, but she soon began recording him on her phone after he became what she described as “naughty”.

The woman recalled that, on one occasion, Booth asked her to spank him and offered her extra payment.

She also said at one point she was “afraid,” adding: “There was fear in my chest but I tried my best not to show it.”

The trial continues.

Booth was given a worldwide travel ban after a Scottish civil court heard he attacked women in an underground chamber at the remote Highland house.

BBC Scotland News has previously heard allegations from two women, who alleged that Booth beat them while they worked for him.

A civil court case in February resulted in Police Scotland seizing his passport and imposing a ban on Booth travelling outside the UK – a judgement that he is appealing against.