Latest Offenders Dumbarton

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A FORMER pipe band member guilty of sex attacks on three women has been jailed for eight years.

Paul Edwardson preyed on his victims including one who was forced to fake a panic to get him away.

The 23-year-old claimed the women had lied and that there had been a plot to get him locked up.

Edwardson was today sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.

He had earlier been convicted of raping two of the young women and assaulting the other with intent to rape.

He pleaded guilty before the trial to having underage sex with a teenage girl.

The offences occurred between 2017 and 2021 mainly at Edwardson's home in Dumbarton.

Sentencing, Lord Scott said he had read a powerful statement from one of the women describing the "significant impact" the ordeal has had on her.

The judge told Edwardson: "Referring to all that she has had to go through - because of you - she has said this whole process has been dehumanising, draining and confusing.

"She mentioned the impact not only on her, but her family and friends whose support has helped her so much.

"This has ensured that she has become a survivor rather than simply another of your victims."

Lord Scott added Edwardson had continued to make "vain protestations of innocence" and that he had "hinted of some sort of conspiracy" against him.

The first offender will also be supervised for two years on his release.

He was further placed on the sex offenders list indefinitely and banned from contacting the three women jurors convicted him of attacking.

The first rape victim was attacked after she had fallen asleep.

In his closing speech, prosecutor John McElroy KC stated: "She was pinned down by her wrists, she told him to stop, he was not listening and he had sex with her."

The next victim was preyed upon after she had also started to fall asleep.

Mr McElroy said: "She did not want sex. It takes her faking a panic attack to put him off."

This victim told the trial she had been insistent with Edwardson.

She added: "One obvious way was me telling him I did not to - I told him multiple times.

"If that was not coming across then I had to take extra measures to do something."

After the intent to rape attack, the young woman was described by a friend as "distraught" and "speaking at 100mph".

The jury heard of texts where the victim confronted Edwardson about what happened.

He stated: "I am so sorry. I did not even think."

The other rape victim said she had no recollection of having any sexual contact.

Mr McElroy stated: "The last thing she can remember before waking up naked on top of a bare mattress is going to bed because she was drunk."

Jurors heard evidence Edwardson went on to wash the victim and her clothes, said to have been in a bid to "hide the evidence" of what he did.

Edwardson claimed at trial the women "told lie after lie".

Mr McElroy added: "I suggest that you would be entitled to the view this is a desperate claim by a desperate man."

It was also heard during the trial how creepy Edwardson would talk about his late mum and show photos of her grave in an apparent attempt at getting young women to feel sorry for him.

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The woman has spoken of her devastation after 'friend' Sean Monaghan uploaded photographs and posted sick comments on US X-rated website.

A young woman has told of her devastation after a close friend posted pictures of her and 10 other women alongside disgusting comments on a porn website.

She was horrified to find that Balloch man Sean Monaghan was behind the sick stunt which saw innocent photos of women from across the area viewed thousands of times on an X-rated US site.

Several of the girls travelled to Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week to watch as justice was served on the 24-year-old former shop worker, who was placed on the sex offenders register for two years and handed a community payback order with 200 hours of unpaid work.

The young woman spoke of her relief at the ending of the case but said that she has been traumatised by the betrayal and now struggles to trust those close to her.

She said: We are really pleased with the sentence and the fact hes been put on the sex offenders register.

The sheriff [Maxwell Hendry] went through him and was fantastic.

The sheriff said the issue was the threatening comments and threats he had made alongside the photos, not the pictures themselves. They were just normal prom and selfie photos.

Seans lawyer said he knew how we felt but he has no idea.

We are glad its over but its been such a long, distressing and embarrassing process. It was awful having to tell our families. We just want people to know what hes done.

He seemed a normal guy and we would never have thought hed have done something like this.

He was a best friend and I find it really difficult to trust people now and Im cautious about what I put up on Facebook.

Monaghan pleaded guilty to posting the images onto adult pornographic websites and the internet without the womens knowledge or permission.

He also admitted posting comments referring to the images which were of a sexually violent, threatening, offensive and derogatory nature, encouraging other users to post similar comments, posting images of his penis alongside the pictures and committing a breach of the peace.

The offences took place over the course of a year between November 1, 2014, and November 1, 2015, at his home in Inchconnachan Avenue.

Monaghan, who now lives on Glasgow Road in Dumbarton East, knew all of the women, who are aged between 20 and 25, and took holiday and prom photographs from their Facebook pages before uploading them on the adult site.

Some of the women were his colleagues at a shop in Dumbarton where he worked at the time.

The Lennox Herald told last year how the women only discovered the images after being alerted by one of the groups college friends at Halloween.

They were dismayed when police officers initially told them there was nothing they could do as no crime had been committed so they decided to track the perpetrator down themselves and set up a couple of fake profiles on the site.

It was there they read the horrifying comments and were able to confirm the person behind it was a trusted friend.

She continued: There were videos of him on there touching himself to our pictures and we recognised his voice, his laptop and even his hands.

By that point, we knew it was him so we confronted him but he said he didnt know anything about it.

He later messaged me and a few of the other girls admitting it and saying he was sorry and that he didnt mean it.

Once the police got on board again they were fantastic and they have been good throughout in keeping us updated on the case.

She added: It still feels quite raw. At first I didnt want to be angry with him because he was my friend but as all the comments were read out in court I thought I shouldnt feel sorry for him. Now its just hatred.

He still lives in Dumbarton and I still drive past his car all the time and Im reminded of what hes done.

Even on Facebook, old photos of us will pop up as memories from when we were friends.

When I look at them and look at him now I see a different person.

The Sean I thought I knew wasnt my friend at all.