A millionaire racing tipster who used an underground chamber at his remote Highland home to abuse vulnerable women has lost an appeal against his global travel ban.
Kevin Booth, who recruited women to work at his isolated Lochdhu Lodgee in Caithness and is said to have subjected them to so-called ‘punishment beatings’, was banned from travelling abroad last year.
A court previously heard how at the lodge there was an underground chamber containing ‘an empty coffin, life-size ancient Egyptian figures and a metal bench’.
In a written judgment published by the court last year, Sheriff Neil Wilson wrote about how Booth abused the women in the dungeon and filmed the attacks.
Booth’s house was searched by police in March 2019, but proceedings against him were discontinued in March 2021.
This led to former Police Scotland chief constable Sir Iain Livingstone to raise a civil action against Booth. He asked Wick Sheriff Court to pass a Trafficking and Exploitation Order for a period of five years.
Booth had to surrender his passport to prevent him from travelling abroad. He must also inform police 14 days before hiring any female employees.
However, lawyers for Booth believed that Sheriff Wilson was wrong to impose the order prohibiting foreign travel.
Kevin Booth (pictured) who used an underground chamber at his remote Highland home to abuse vulnerable women has lost an appeal against his global travel ban
Booth recruited women to work at his isolated Lochdhu Lodge (pictured) in Caithness, Scotland
His lawyers told the Sheriff Appeal Court in Edinburgh that their colleague in Wick hadn’t followed legal guidelines in passing the order.
However, in a written judgment issued by the court on Tuesday, the appeal sheriffs rejected the arguments made to them by Mr Webster.
The court was told that between 1998 and December 2022, Booth engaged in a ‘consistent course of conduct of recruiting women’ for the purposes of isolating them ‘far from their homes, and thereafter submitting them to violent beatings and forcing them, through threats of violence, to perform sexual acts on him’.
And granting the travel ban, Sheriff Neil Wilson described the evidence led in court had been ‘utterly harrowing’.
Describing one of the videos played to the court, he wrote: ‘This video shows the red and black metal contraption in the tomb area of Lochdhu.
‘A young black woman is handcuffed to it in a kneeling position. The defender tells her she is being punished for the way she spoke to him.
‘He tells her she has to learn her lesson. She appears to be terrified. She is screaming and crying.
‘She repeatedly tries to get away but is handcuffed to the bench. The defender swaps implements and continues to beat her.’
He added: ‘This appears to be nothing other than torture. She is chained to the contraption while the defender beats her.
‘She is apparently terrified and tries to escape but cannot.’
It is not the first time Booth – once described as a millionaire racing tipster – has come to the attention of the authorities.
He was charged with assaulting children in his care at a school in 1991 by caning and whipping them.
He left the UK prior to his trial in an ‘attempt to evade justice’ and was later given a three-month suspended jail term.
In 2002, he was convicted after a trial at Bradford Crown Court of indecently assaulting his Brazilian au pair.
He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for two years in December 2025 and was ordered to pay a woman £2,000 compensation after being convicted of indecent communication.
Wick Sheriff Court heard how Booth instructed a woman to give him a massage once a week, and asked her about her previous sexual relationships and whether she knew how to spank.
Sentencing Booth, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald said Booth had held ‘a position of power’ over an employee living in his ‘extremely isolated’ home miles away from her family.
Police Scotland became aware of Booth’s activities and started investigating him in 2019. They seized hundreds of videos from Booth’s property of women being assaulted by him.
The court saw 13 videos of Booth’s conduct.
In the judgment published on Tuesday, Sheriff Principal Miller added: ‘For the foregoing reasons, we refuse the appeal and adhere to the sheriff’s interlocutor.’
