A former SNP campaign manager who is also a celebrated drag queen took photos of a half-naked drunken friend who was sleeping at his home, a court has heard.
Nathan Sparling, 31, is said to have snapped eight pictures of the man as he lay on a couch with his genitals exposed after a drinking session in Edinburgh.
Sparling, who was chief executive of HIV Scotland at the time, is said to have used the man’s phone to take the images at his flat in Leith after his alleged victim “blacked out”.
The alleged victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said he found the pictures when he checked his phone in the morning.
Sparling is a former campaign manager for Angus Robertson, the constitution secretary, who was then the SNP’s Westminster leader. Sparling’s work included research, communications and strategy with an emphasis on social justice. He is also known for his drag queen act in which he uses the name Nancy Clench when performing a risqué routine.
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Sparling denied voyeurism in a trial at Edinburgh sheriff court on Friday. He is accused of recording an image of the man’s genitals at his home on September 30, 2019.
The alleged victim, who is in his 30s, told the court that he and Sparling met in Edinburgh city centre and drank beer before heading to a bar where they shared two bottles of wine. The man said he had little memory of leaving and that he “could not remember a single thing” about being in Sparling’s flat.
The man said: “I had a blackout and can’t remember anything. I woke up in the morning and I was undressed from the waist down. My shoes had been taken off and my pants had been rolled down and I was exposed.”
The man said he made his way to the toilet where he “sat for two minutes and looked at his phone”. He said he opened his photo roll and the first images he saw were of himself naked and unconscious in Sparling’s flat.
He said: “My head was slumped to the side and I was unconscious. I was absolutely frightened as I was in a vulnerable state. I was visible from head to toe and my genitals were exposed though I was not aroused.”
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The alleged victim told the court he had been left “mentally shocked and traumatised” by finding the “seven or eight” half-naked pictures and had instantly deleted them.
The man told the court he had been left “confused” by the alleged incident and admitted he told no one or did anything about it at the time.
The court heard the man subsequently informed the board of trustees at HIV Scotland of the alleged incident and decided to report the matter to the police some months later.
Sparling told the court he first met the man and his partner at one of his drag act shows.
He said the man fell asleep in his flat and added he had “no recollection of taking any photos”.
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Sparling said: “If I had taken any photos it would have been as a joke. But the only thing I did was put a blanket over him so he was warm while he slept.”
Sheriff John Cook adjourned the summary trial hearing to next month due to a lack of court time.
Sparling currently works for a PR company and co-hosts a politics podcast called A New Nation.