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Carol Rohan Beyts (pictured), known as Rohan, 62, sought £3,000 in damages from Trump International Golf Links Scotland

A woman who claimed damages after an employee at US President Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf course photographed her urinating outside has lost her case.

Carol Rohan Beyts sought £3,000 from Trump International Golf Links Scotland, claiming staff breached data protection laws by 'secretly filming' her when she was caught short at the Menie estate course.

A staff member said he photographed her for evidence of a 'criminal act' and the firm contested her claims.

A sheriff sitting in Edinburgh said she should 'not have been photographed' but ruled that distress was not caused by the company's failure to register under the Data Protection Act. 

The 62-year-old long-term campaigner against the course previously told a small claims hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court she suffers from bladder problems and was caught short on a walk through the course on April 11 last year.

She added she was 'shocked' to be told by police she had been filmed, leaving her 'slightly paranoid' about urinating outside.

Her lawyer Mike Dailly said photographs of her urinating had been 'captured unlawfully' by course staff as it was not registered under the Data Protection Act.

She claimed staff at the course breached data protection laws by 'secretly filming' her when she was caught short at the Menie estate course in Aberdeenshire

He said her evidence showed she was clearly distressed.

Paul Motion, representing Trump International, said Ms Beyt's wide publication of the events through the media and Facebook, including the Trip up Trump page, called into question whether they had caused her distress and suggested the 'true basis of the claim has been to publicise opposition to the course'.

He said upholding her claims would have serious consequences for 'the prevention of crime and the apprehension of offenders'.

Giving evidence, Ms Beyts said she was walking on the course when she had hidden in sand dunes out of sight as she urgently needed the toilet.

Four days later, police visited her home in Montrose, Angus, and charged her for public urination.

An officer later told her three men had filmed her on their mobiles, which she said caused her 'upset'.

She said she had opposed the course from the planning stages due to environmental concerns but always protested legally.

The procurator fiscal received a report from the police about the incident but decided to take no further action. 

After the ruling Ms Beyts said that her 'message' for Donald Trump (pictured at his course near Aberdeen) was to 'treat people with respect and dignity'

The course said in a statement: 'We are satisfied that justice has prevailed.'

The organisation claimed she had brought the case in a 'poor attempt at self-publicity'.

The statement continued: 'It's a disgrace that valuable time and money has been wasted defending a genuine north-east business and its honest, hard-working personnel from this nonsense.'

Ms Beyts said: 'To me it was never about the monetary compensation, I wasn't interested in that.

'I was only interested in clearing my name when the Trump organisation representative spoke of me committing a deliberate and shameful act within a few hundred feet of the club house in full view of staff and guests. That was not the case.'

Ms Beyts said she went to court to 'clear' her name when the 'Trump organisation' accused her of 'committing a deliberate and shameful act'

She added: 'The ruling today lets all women, if they need to, go in the outdoors.'

She thanked her supporters worldwide and asked if she had a message for Mr Trump, added: 'My message for Donald Trump is treat people with respect and dignity, and you will get treated with respect and dignity.'

She appealed for him to donate to her Crowdfunder fundraising campaign raising money for the charitable work of her lawyers from Govan Law Centre.

In his ruling, Sheriff Corke said Ms Beyts had been on a walk on the public right of way through the course when due to a medical condition she urgently needed the toilet and squatted in dunes, hidden by grass.

He said: 'She did not intend to be seen and did not think she was being observed.

'Unbeknown to her she was under surveillance by distance of about 230 metres by a [group of three staff].'

The course said in a statement: 'We are satisfied that justice has prevailed. The organisation claimed she had brought the case in a 'poor attempt at self-publicity'

Sheriff Corke said the greenskeeper took a picture of her instead of 'giving her privacy'.

He added: 'She was and remains distressed by the fact that men watched her urinating and she had been photographed in the act.'

He said he found Ms Beyts 'credible and reliable, notwithstanding her public stance against the development at Menie' and preferred her evidence to greenskeeper Edward Irvine's, where they conflicted, as he had found him 'evasive'.

The sheriff added: 'As a loyal employee he was in a very difficult position.

'He was in the very embarrassing position of trying to justify taking a photograph of a woman urinating in circumstances where she would have a reasonable expectation of privacy.'

He said although she was distressed, there was 'no causal connection' between her distress and the firm's failure to register under the Data Protection Act and so her claim for damages failed, but £750 compensation would have been awarded if she had won.