Latest Offenders Edinburgh

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A serial sex offender who was caught with a shocking haul of child abuse images for the second time has been jailed for 16 months.

Nathan Whitelaw, also known as Salkeld, was found to have downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children when police officers checked his mobile phone earlier this year.

Whitelaw, 24, was convicted of a similar offence last year and police were conducting an unannounced search of his Edinburgh flat when he was caught for the second time.

The pervert told the officers he had bought the device as he wanted to “test himself” due to his sexual interest in young children. Whitelaw was also convicted of sexual communication and attempting to meet up with a 13 year old child he had contacted online in 2018.

But he was caught in a paedophile hunter sting when it emerged he had in fact been in contact with an adult decoy connected to the Groom Resisters Scotland group. Whitelaw was handed community payback orders on both previous occasions and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

He was back in the dock for sentencing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday after previously admitting possessing indecent images of children between February 22 and May 10 this year

Sheriff Daniel Kelly said: “You are already on two community payback orders. The orders imposed have not prevented you from reoffending.

“In terms of the social work report you are at a high risk of [sexual] reconviction. That means on this occasion there is no other sentence appropriate other than custody.” Whitelaw was jailed for 16 months and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

He was also handed a five-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order which bans him from accessing any social media site without gaining prior permission.

Previously the court was told Whitelaw had been housed by Edinburgh City Council at a property in the Leith area of the capital following last year’s conviction. Police officers attended the home as part of an unannounced search and uncovered the phone which he was banned from owning on May 10 this year.

Whitelaw was said to have appeared “nervous and agitated” to the officers and he was cautioned and charged at the time. The court heard the offender’s mobile phone was found to contain 801 images and videos rated at Category A - the most depraved end of the scale.

He also possessed 172 images and videos at Category B along with a further 1445 said to be at Category C. The court heard Whitelaw had bought the phone three months previously “in a bid to test himself” against reoffending.

Solicitor Steven Donald, defending, said his client had a keen interest in computing which had led him “to go down the rabbit hole” of searching out child abuse images.

Mr Donald said Whitelaw had been making progress while on his previous community-based order “to such an extent he wanted to test himself”.

The images were said to have been part of a “data dump” sent to Whitelaw by another person and all the images had been inaccessible. Mr Donald added: “There is an acceptance on his part he has an attraction [to children].”

Whitelaw pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children at a property at Persevere Court, Edinburgh, between February 22 and May 10 this year.

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A man who trussed a woman to a bed moments before subjecting her to a violent rape ordeal has been jailed for 15 years.

Kevin Hood, 34, attacked the female, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at an address in Edinburgh in August 2021. The high court in the city heard last month how Hood subjected the woman to a terrifying ordeal during the attack.

He demanded her mobile telephone password to see who she had been speaking to. The court heard that Hood then prevented her from leaving a bedroom and fastened her ankles and wrists to a bed, detaining her there against her will.

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Hood then started to choke the woman before raping her. But Hoods victim plucked up enough courage to speak to the police who launched an investigation into his activities.

Detectives then found enough evidence against Hood to bring him to justice. On Wednesday, the court heard how Hood had told a social worker tasked with finding out more about his background that he used sex workers.

He also told the social worker that he liked to indulge in sex which included restraints and strangulations. Judge Lord Arthurson told Hood that as he had been assessed at being at high risk of re-offending, the only sentence available to the court was prison.

Lord Arthurson also told Hood that the risk he posed to women in general was such that hed have been supervised by the authorities for 10 years following his release from custody. Passing sentence, Lord Arthurson said: This crime is one of the worst that Ive had to deal with in my judicial career.

This was a sustained assault using sickening acts of violence undertaken with the purpose of controlling your victim. Given the circumstances of the offence, the only disposal that can be in the circumstances is the imposition of a extremely long custodial one.

The sentence being imposed is to punish you, reflect societys revulsion at such crimes and to deter others from committing them. The story emerged on last month when a jury found Hood, who lives in Edinburgh city centre, guilty of raping the woman.

He had pleaded guilty at an earlier stage in proceedings to charges of subjecting the woman he raped to threatening behaviour. He also pleaded guilty to assaulting another woman and subjecting her to threatening behaviour in 2018.

Following conviction, prosecutor Richard Goddard KC told Lord Arthurson that prior to his arrest, Hood was unemployed. Mr Goddard also said that the accused has appeared in court on previous occasions.

He added: The accused has a significant criminal record. On Wednesday, Lord Arthurson also placed Hood on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

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A court has heard how a 63-year-old man tricked women into speaking to him before he sexually assaulted them.

A man targeted seven lone women while they were out walking their dogs and heading to work in Edinburgh city centre.
 
Mirza Mohammad Saeed sexually assaulted the women - including a 15-year-old girl - by grabbing their hands and attempting to kiss them on the mouth. Saeed, 63, used the ruse of stopping his victims to ask them to take a picture of him on his phone before he made a grab for them and leaning in to kiss them.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told on Wednesday that Saeed attacked the seven victims as they walked their dogs at the city’s Harrison Park and as they headed to work along the Union Canal pathway. Saeed, of the Capital’s Fountainbridge area, appeared in the dock to plead guilty to seven sexual assaults and had not guilty pleas to eight further similar offences accepted by the Crown.

Fiscal depute James Clark told the court Saeed assaulted three female dog walkers at Harrison Park between 8am and 9.45am on December 31, 2020. The fiscal said all three women were approached by Saeed and asked to take a photograph of him before he then asked for a picture of both of them together.
All the women denied the request for a photo together and Saeed proceeded to kiss them on the hand and attempt to kiss them on the mouth. Mr Clark told the court the women were left feeling “uncomfortable”, “upset” and “vulnerable” during the attacks.

The court was also told Saeed targeted lone women as they made their way along the city’s Union Canal pathway between 3pm and 4.45pm on February 20 last year. The fiscal said Saeed carried out similar behaviour to get the women to stop and talk to him before he attempted to kiss them.

The court also heard of the assault on the 15 year old girl on the same date as she walked her dog in the Craiglockhart area.

Again Saeed approached the girl and asked her to take his picture before he leaned in and tried to kiss her on the mouth. The girl fought the attacker off by pushing him to the chest and shouting “no, no” at him. The girl later said the attack left her feeling “alone and scared”.
Solicitor Mark Hutchison said his client was a father-of-six, has been in the UK for three years and had been “lonely and suffering from stress at the time of the offending”.

Mr Hutchison told the court Saeed plans to travel to Pakistan next week to attend his daughter’s wedding and will return to Scotland in late November. Sheriff Adrian Fraser agreed to release Saeed on bail and deferred sentence for the preparation of social work reports and a restriction of liberty assessment to December. The sheriff also placed Saeed on the sex offenders register for a term still to be determined.
Saeed pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting seven women at Harrison Park and the Union Canal Pathway, both Edinburgh, on December 31, 2020 and February 20 last year.

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An Edinburgh man who sexually assaulted a sleeping friend who had visited him after she had attended a church service has been placed on the sex offenders register.

Bogdan Raczynski pounced on the woman as she slept on a sofa following a drinking session at his flat in the “frightening” incident area of the city last year. Raczynski, 53, crept up to the woman in the middle of the night and pulled her leggings and underwear down before she woke up and shouted for him to stop.

The victim fled the home the following morning and after confiding in a friend decided to report the stopped the attack to the police. The creep appeared in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for sentencing on Thursday after previously admitting the sex assault.

Defence agent Peter Winning said his client “accepted culpability” for the offence and said he had stopped the attack when the woman told him to. Mr Winning said the first offender had a “good work history” and leads “a relatively quiet life”.

Sheriff Kenneth Campbell KC said: “When this matter called before me previously I heard a full account of the circumstances and your conduct on the occasion I heard about was completely unacceptable.

“This must have been a troubling, upsetting and frightening experience for the woman concerned. I take account of the fact you stopped when she said she did want your advances.

“On balance I am satisfied there is an alternative to custody in this case.” Raczynski was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and under the supervision of the local social work department for the next 18 months.

He was also ordered to carry out 225 hours of unpaid work in the community. Previously fiscal depute Jennifer McLaren told the court Raczynski and the woman had been friends for around 15 years and she had attended at his flat with a pal on March 29 last year.

Ms McLaren said: “Around 5.30pm [the victim] and a friend attended a church service together and following this [she] contacted the accused and asked if she could visit him and he agreed. Upon their arrival the accused was at home alone and the three sat together eating food and drinking alcohol. This was a mixture of whisky and vodka.”

The court heard the socialising went on for “a number hours” and after the women missed their last bus Raczynski agreed they could stay over. The complainer slept on the couch in the living room while her friend slept in the spare bedroom.

Ms McLaren said they woman, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons, woke up between 3am and 4am to find Raczynski “standing over her”. The court heard he “grabbed hold of her leg and seized hold of her leggings” and tried to “pull these down”.

The fiscal said a struggle ensued where he “successfully managed to lower the clothing of [the woman] including her underwear” before she told him to stop. The woman then lost consciousness and after waking in the morning she and her friend quickly left the flat.

The woman told her friend about the attack and the police were contacted. Raczynski pleaded guilty to an amended charge of sexually assaulting a woman by repeatedly attempting to remove her lower clothing, struggling with her and removing her lower clothing at his home on March 29 last year.

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A sex predator who molested and raped an underage teenage girl after her school friend had been in contact with him through a website was jailed on Thursday, September 1.

James McAllister left his victim in pain after an initial encounter when she said he knew she was 13 years old but then later subjected her to a rape at a flat in Edinburgh.

One attack happened at a flat in Gilmerton.

A sex predator who molested and raped an underage teenage girl after her school friend had been in contact with him through a website was jailed on Thursday, September 1.

James McAllister left his victim in pain after an initial encounter when she said he knew she was 13 years old but then later subjected her to a rape at a flat in Edinburgh.

The woman, now aged 33, told the High Court in Edinburgh that if someone was looking her at the time of the offences they would have seen "a child".

She said that the abuse inflicted on her by the older man had left her crying, shaking, upset and feeling dirty.

McAllister, 44, of Newtoft Street, in Edinburgh had denied subjecting her to indecent conduct at a car park in Newtongrange, in Midlothian, between August 22 in 2002 and August 21 in 2004.

He also denied assaulting and raping her at a flat in the Gilmerton area of Edinburgh between the same dates. He was found guilty of both offences.

The woman said that in early years at high school her friend had accessed a website which she described as being like the dating website Plenty of Fish. She told her she had been speaking to a man called James.

She said a meeting had been arranged for her and her friend with the man and her friend had indicated they were both 18.

"She had asked if I would go along with her to meet James in Dalkeith," she said.

She said they dressed and put make-up on to try to look older, but added the attempt failed. She said they hid in bushes at the library in the Midlothian town and waited for James to arrive in his car.

The woman said she told her friend they would need to disclose that they were not 18 because they did not look old enough to be that age.

She said her friend contacted McAllister and told him they were really 13. She said: "The reply was 'it's fine come over to the car'."

She said McAllister drove off with them in the car. She told the court: "I thought we were going in the car just to drive about."

The woman said they were driven to an area with no other cars about and her friend left the vehicle. She said: "There was a discussion about who was getting picked to stay in the car."

She said she was petrified and added: "I didn't think my friend was going to be leaving me in the car with someone I didn't know."

She said McAllister started kissing and put his tongue in her mouth. She said it was "disgusting" and "tasted like cigarettes".

McAllister began touching her and got her to touch him and carried out a sex act, leaving her feeling sore. She said he asked her to carry out a sex act on him but she did not known what she was doing.

Advocate depute Stewart Ronnie asked the woman: "As far as you were concerned he knew you were 13?". She replied: "Yes."

Her friend returned and they were driven back to the library and left there while McAllister drove off.

She said that after McAllister had contacted her again and told her he liked her and that she was pretty. He said he would buy her drink and let her watch TV music channels. He also bought her top ups for her phone.

"I was young.. I was offered alcohol. I didn't have stuff like music videos at home, " she said. She and her friend met him again by the library and were driven to an address in the Gilmerton area.

She said McAllister gave her Bacardi breezers before he asked her to follow him to a bedroom and told her to take her clothes off.

She said he stripped off and performed a sex act on her but his beard left her with "a burning sensation". She said he began raping her but she said it was sore and asked him to stop.

The woman said: "He said it was fine, that was what was meant to happen. It was meant to be sore. At that point he kept pushing it in."

She said she eventually managed to get up from the bed and picked up her clothes, but was in "searing pain".

Afterwards she got back in the car with her friend but when they reached the Eskbank roundabout, which was the first place she recognised, she asked him to stop. They got out of the car but she burst out crying uncontrollably.

She said she and her friend later printed off some pictures of her attacker and stuck them up in Dalkeith calling him a paedophile. She gave a statement to police in 2018.

After McAllister was found guilty of the sex offences the trial judge, Lord Weir, told him he been convicted of serious charges.

The court heard that although McAllister has previous convictions he has never served a jail sentence.

The judge adjourned the case for the preparation of a background report and McAllister, who was on bail during his trial was remanded in custody.

He was placed on the sex offender's register 

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Bradley Booth, 22, raped three girls and had underage sex with others as he targeted victims in Edinburgh and East Lothian.

A serial sex offender who preyed on underage schoolgirls during a catalogue of rape and abuse was jailed for six years today.

Bradley Booth, 22, raped three girls and had underage sex with others as he targeted victims in Edinburgh and East Lothian. Booth began his offending when he was aged 16 in October 2016 and persisted in committing sex crimes for nearly three years against a total of seven youngsters up until August 2019.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that one victim said she was left feeling "minging" after he subjected her to a rape attack at her home when she told him "no". During an earlier trial Booth, an airport duty free worker, had denied a series of charges and continued to deny them after he was found guilty.

A judge told him: "By the verdict of the jury you were convicted of 11 charges all consisting of sexual offences committed against girls who at the time were under the age of 16."

Lord Tyre said the three most serious offences were for charges of rape of three different girls. He added: "The experience continues to have a devastating effect on them some years after."

Booth's victims were aged between 13 and 15 and the judge pointed out that at that age children were vulnerable to exploitation. Lord Tyre said that he took into account sentencing guidelines for young people and Booth's lack of a previous criminal offending in dealing with him. He said the sentence would have been longer for an adult offender.

Booth, formerly of Northfield Drive, in Edinburgh, committed his first offence in 2016 when he indecently assaulted a 13-year-old girl. The girl had been drinking and found herself alone in the city's Niddrie area and had sought help. The court heard that Booth picked her up off the ground but then molested the child.

The following year Booth committed his first rape when he assaulted a 14-year-old girl after taking off her lower clothing at an address in Niddrie. He also began sending sexualised messages to another 14-year-old via Snapchat and asked her to send him nude pictures. Booth had claimed that he did not know the girl nor was he in touch with her.

He went on to have underage sex with another 14-year-old girl at two flats in Edinburgh and in 2018 contacted a 15-year-old girl via social media before subjecting her to a rape ordeal at a house in Haddington, in East Lothian.

Booth claimed that he thought she was the same age as him and she informed him that she had "a free house" before he arrived at the address. He said there had been kissing, cuddling and some petting but denied anything else happened.

The girl said she was pushed and pinned down and subjected to a rape ordeal. She later spoke to her sister who urged her to report it to police Booth went on to have underage sex with another 14-year-old girl at a house in Edinburgh in 2018 after meeting her through an internet platform. He claimed: "I have never seen her."

The following year he contacted a 15-year-old girl and sent her sexual communications and got her to send him a picture of her bottom. He maintained that he thought she was 16 or 17. He had sex with the underage girl but then raped her after she was feeling sore and said no to him.

He also sent indecent communications to another girl from the age of 13 and sent her pictures of his penis and asked her to send sexual images of herself to him.

Defence solicitor advocate James Keegan QC said that Booth continued to maintain his position from the trial and was on antidepressant medication. Booth was told he will remain on the sex offenders' register for an indefinite period.

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A violent Scots rapist who targeted two ‘truly vulnerable’ women has been jailed for seven years. George Newby preyed on one young woman, who did not have the mental capacity to consent, on August 8, 2020, at a property in Loganlea Road, Edinburgh.

The 32-year-old repeatedly touched her on the breasts and buttocks, kissed her neck, and pinned her to the floor before performing a sex act on her after pulling at her clothing. The brute then grabbed her by the neck and raped her to her injury.

Just months later, he struck again at a property in the Pilton area of the capital, targeting a woman who was extremely intoxicated and asleep in February 2021. He pulled down her lower clothing, lay on top of her, seized her by the arm and pinned her to the bed before trying to rape her.

Defence counsel Gordon Jackson KC told the High Court in Edinburgh that his client continued to deny the offending behaviour but that he had a good work record.

He added that Newby’s partner continued to be supportive of him and described him as “a total gentleman” and that she had “never felt safe” in her whole life.

Passing sentence, Lord Craig Sandison said: “You pose a high risk of further sexual offending and a moderate risk of more general offending.”

Newby, who appeared via video link, showed no emotion as he was handed a seven year jail term and placed on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.

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A man who committed a series of rapes and sexual assaults across Edinburgh has been jailed.

Emmanuel Anoliefo was previously convicted at the High Court in Edinburgh in July of four charges of rape, involving three different women, two charges of sexual assault, three of threatening and abusive behaviour and one of stalking.

The 39 year old carried out the crimes between November 2018 and August 2020.

At the High court in Glasgow on Friday, Anoliefo was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Detective Sergeant Mark Seymour said: Anoliefo preyed on women, some of whom he already knew. He deliberately decided to exploit others who he approached in the street and tried to befriend. He was ruthless, dangerous and cruel and has shown no remorse for his crimes.

He claimed to have been brought up to respect women but his victims were left terrified and distraught and are still trying to come to terms with what has happened.

I commend the bravery of every woman who came forward, some of whom testified in court, and hope that the sentencing gives them some kind of closure.

I would also like to thank the public for their response to our appeal for information in August 2020, as this assisted with our investigation which led to Anoliefo being apprehended and being brought to justice.

Police Scotland is committed to bringing those responsible for sexual crimes to justice and anyone wishing to report this kind of crime, no matter when it happened, should contact us.

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Stewart Polson, 69, targeted youngsters for repeated indecent assaults for more than a decade at addresses in Edinburgh for his own gratification before going on to commit further sex crimes.

A vile paedophile who preyed on children by perpetrating a catalogue of abuse including rape was jailed for 13 years on Monday.

Stewart Polson, 69, targeted youngsters for repeated indecent assaults for more than a decade at addresses in Edinburgh for his own gratification before going on to commit further sex crimes. His former partner David Sinclair, 63, who also joined him in some of the abuse against two girls was jailed for 45 months.

A judge told Polson at the High Court in Edinburgh: "Because of the gravity of the crimes a custodial sentence is the only appropriate disposal in your case." Judge Fiona Tait said that in statements provided by two of the victims they had spoken about the destruction of their childhoods.

She told Polson: "You maintain your denial of the commission of these offences and show no remorse for your conduct." The judge said victims had shown "considerable courage" to come forward and give evidence against him.

Polson, a prisoner, had denied a string of charges during an earlier trial but was found guilty of nine crimes, including indecent conduct, indecent assault and rape. The bulk of his offending took place between 1976 and 1989 at houses in the Edinburgh area and was against two girls and a boy.

One girl was targeted from the age of six and the other was aged eight when the abuse began. The second child was subjected to a rape ordeal by Polson.

But Polson, who previous convictions for violent and sexual crime, went on to indecently assault a further girl, then aged seven, at a house in a Stirlingshire village in 1993 before sexually assaulting another 12-year-old girl at an address in Kilmarnock, in Ayrshire.

Sinclair, formerly of Abbey Street, in Edinburgh, took part in the abuse of two of the girls in the 1980s in Edinburgh. He had denied a single charge of indecent assault committed on various occasions but was found guilty.

The judge told the first offender: "This was a crime of considerable gravity and it will have had a substantial impact on each of the two complainers." Polson told the court that he had met Sinclair at the Laughing Duck pub, which he described as a gay bar, in the city in 1983 and they became a couple for a time.

He claimed that he was living in Bournemouth, in England, at the time of some of the offending and said: "None of the allegations are true at all." Both men were placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely following their sentencing today.

Detective Inspector Jonny Wright, who led the investigation, said: Stewart Polson and David Sinclair abused children together, whilst Polson himself targeted children over the course of four decades across Scotland.

Thanks to the courage of their survivors in reporting the attacks against them, we were able to build a significant case against both men that ultimately resulted in their convictions in court.

Their prison sentences should send a clear message that that there is no time limit on when you can report sexual abuse. We will always conduct a thorough investigation, no matter how long ago the incidents occurred and we will do all we can to bring perpetrators of such offences to justice.

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A sleazy shop worker who supplied booze to a 13-year-old girl sent her Instagram messages saying he loved her and wanted them to marry.

Vinit Kotadiya gave bottles of alcohol to the schoolgirl after meeting her at the East Lothian convenience store where he worked. The 23-year-old sent her perverted messages despite her repeatedly telling him her age.

Kotadiya, of the city's Meadowbank area, presented her with the gift of a rucksack containing 120 and bottles of vodka and Dragon Soop. But the victims mother became suspicious and police were called in after Kotadiyas offending was discovered.

Kotadiya appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Wednesday and pled guilty to sending messages that were grossly offensive, or of an indecent, offensive or menacing character. He also admitted giving alcohol to the girl.

Fiscal depute Morgan Beattie said Kotadiya encountered the girl outside the Lifestyle Express shop in Bridge Street, Tranent. Ms Beattie said the pair continued to engage over the next month and Kotadiya gave her his Instagram details.

The court heard the girl followed Kotadiya on social media and shed told him her age. Ms Beattie said Kotadiya would arrange to meet the victim at the back of the store where he handed over alcohol.

In a message sent on February 14 last year, Kotadiya asked the girl to be my Valentine and she again told him she was 13. Kotadiya sent her back a message saying, I will wait for you.

Ms Beattie said the accused sent the girl messages saying he loves her and wants to marry her. During this time, Kotadiya gave the victim a rucksack containing alcohol and cash.

The prosecutor said: Over this time, the (girls) mum became concerned by (her daughters) activity and observed messages between her and her friends which confirmed the accused had been giving her gifts including alcohol.

Police were alerted and Kotadiyas mobile phone was seized and examined. Kotadiya, a first offender, admitted carrying out the offences in January and February last year.

Sheriff John Cook deferred sentence on Kotadiya until next month for reports. The sheriff said he would consider arguments at that hearing on whether Kotadiyas conviction required him to be added to the sex offenders register.

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Heavily tattooed Jai Pennycuick had abused a young girl at a flat in Edinburgh's Broomhouse in the 1990s.

The victim only reported to police what happened in May 2020 after coming forward and speaking to specially trained officers Pennycuick, now 39, was then quizzed by officers weeks later as part of an investigation into historic sex crimes.

Prosecutor Bill McVicar told the High Court in Glasgow: "He broke down crying and subsequently gave as full an account of the incident as he could remember. "He accepted what he had done was wrong ... and that he now had to face the consequences of what he had done."

Pennycuick - a construction site labourer - pleaded guilty to a charge of lewd and libidinous conduct towards the child on an occasion between June 1996 and June 1997.

The girl would have been as young as seven years old at the time.

Mr McVicar told how Pennycuick, of the capital's Pilton, was convicted of a number of sex crimes in England and Wales in the late 90s including indecent assault of a boy.

Until he was jailed, Pennycuick, who describes himself as single, had been attempting to find a partner on internet dating sites.

One recent post states: "Hi my name is jai I'm looking for a long term-relationship. I live in Edinburgh I have no kids never been married I like the outdoors and traveling I work on building sites."

Kenneth Cloggie, defending, said: "He cannot change the past and he is ashamed of that."

Sentencing, Lord Matthews said Pennycuik was also young at the time, but that he now had to deal with him as an adult.

The judge cut the jail-term from two years due to the guilty plea and further placed Pennycuik on the Sex Offenders Register (SOR) for 10 years.

Pennycuick will have to notify police of any change of address once he is released from prison.

As a Registered Sex Offender he will be subject to close monitoring by Police Scotland and criminal justice social workers and could face prosecution for any breach of the SOR imposed on him.

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A monster who sexually abused children has been jailed.

William King was sentenced to six years behind bars at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday.

The paedophile abused two girls and a boy during the eighties and early noughties in Edinburgh and Fife.

King, 57, was arrested and charged in 2020 before being found guilty last month of various sexual assaults against his young victims.

Officers from the Capitals Public Protection Unit launched an investigation after a number of survivors came forward.

Police hailed King's victims for their 'great courage' and stressed that 'all reports of sexual assault' will be investigated 'regardless of the passage of time'.

Detective Inspector Jonny Wright said: The survivors of Kings horrific sexual abuse have shown great courage in coming forward with vital information, which ultimately led to his conviction.

His actions were appalling and he will now face justice for the offences he committed.

All reports of sexual assault, regardless of the passage of time, will be thoroughly investigated by Police Scotland and victims will be supported throughout.

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A former Scottish government security guard who raped one woman and sexually assaulted another as they slept has been jailed for eight years.

Khalid Alsrooji, 35, attacked his victims at flats in Edinburgh after meeting them on nights out.

Both women woke to find themselves partially undressed with Alsrooji attempting to have sex with them.

One victim was later found to have traces of drugs in her blood although she said she had not taken any.

The 23-year-old woman told the High Court in Edinburgh she did not remember leaving a city venue before the attack.

She said: "My next memory is waking up on a couch facing the wall in an unknown flat."

She said she told her attacker: "No, stop." The woman told the court: "I didn't have enough energy to move or do anything about it. I couldn't move or open my eyes."

Her ordeal was reported to police after she went to hospital following the assault.

Common features

Alsrooji, of Robertson Gait in Edinburgh, had denied the offences but was found guilty of raping one woman and sexually assaulting another with intent to rape her.

Judge Lord Weir said Alsrooji, who had previously held jobs as a Scottish government guard and a nightclub doorman, had taken advantage of his victims when they were in vulnerable circumstances.

The judge told him: "You were found guilty after trial of two serious charges involving different complainers on different occasions, in circumstances which disclosed common features."

Lord Weir said that on both occasions the women were not previously known to father-of-one Alsrooji.

Defence solicitor advocate Krista Johnston said that Sudanese-born Alsrooji continued to maintain his innocence, but was assessed as posing a medium risk of further offending.

He was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

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A diving instructor has been placed on the sex offenders ' register after trying to recruit a 14-year-old babysitter to meet him in a hotel, stand in goo, and rub her "sweaty feet" on his face.

Michael Bramham, 44, was caught after English police targeting on-line child abuse placed an advert on Gumtree purporting to be from a 14-year-old schoolgirl offering babysitting services in Newcastle and Sunderland.

A female officer posing as the girl was then contacted by a man calling himself "Mike" - soon identified as Bramham.

An "extensive" conversation took place between them, initially on Gumtree and continuing on email.

The father-of-one asked her if she was interested in "a modelling job" which would be "clothed and suitable for her age", offering to pay her 100.

Prosecutor Cheryl Clark said: "He said he had kids himself and repeatedly asked her to send him photographs of herself.

"He went into details about what he would want to do with her feet."

Bramham promised a photoshoot, and suggested they could meet on a weekday after school.

Going into details of what he wanted her to do, he said: "You'll be barefoot and bare-legged and getting gunge poured on the soles of your feet, standing in buckets of gunge, and sat on a chair using your feet to pick sweets out of basins of goo."

He said he wanted to photograph her lying face down with her big toes "stuck in lots of goo" and with "stuff being poured or spread on the soles of your feet".

He also wanted some shots of her "standing in stuff".

She asked him if he wanted her to tell her mother, and Bramham emailed back, "Best not to."

He suggested, "We'll do a pic tonight and I'll figure out how to get 10 to you. Just want to see what you look like and if you're feet are OK."

He said he would "get a placed booked" and wanted to do the shoot before the end of February 2020.

He emailed: "Assume you'll be coming straight from school. What do you normally wear? When are you 15? Not important, just curious."

Ms Clark, depute fiscal, said: "The communication continued and 'Mike' told her to delete emails so her mother wouldn't see them."

Bramham then made several requests to photograph her bare feet and told her he had booked an apartment at a hotel in Newcastle and he would be there from 12 onwards.

Ms Clark said: "He made reference to her doing 'extra bits for money'.

"This would involve him smelling her feet and placing his nose between her toes and her rubbing her sweaty feet in her face."

Bramham asked, "Can you curl your toes up really tight, like clench them like a fist? Are you any good at picking things up between your toes? Can you do a thumbs up with your big toe, like curl your toes up but stick your big toes up?"

He said if she was "still interested in discussing some other bits" he could pay her 160 to 200.

He said: "Will pay 160 as well as the gunge shoot if I can smell your bare feet for half an hour, face pressed into your soles and nose between your toes and you rub them in my face for a bit.

"If they're sweaty that's better. If you've had PE at school don't wear socks under your trainers and bunk off straight after without changing your shoes."

He told her he could not give her his number "As the missus might pick up if you call" adding there was "nothing to be nervous about" and she would be "treated with respect".

The communications were traced to Bramham's home in Glenbo Drive, Denny, Stirlingshire, and at 8.00 am on June 10th (2020) the property was visited by officers with a warrant.

Bramham's wife was there with a young child but he was away working, and was arrested at 4.30 pm that day on a sea pier at Achiltibuie, near Ullapool in Ross-Shire.

He remarked to police: "I had a feeling the person I was speaking to wasn't real."

Bramham, a first offender, now of Bonaly, Edinburgh, pleaded guilty at Falkirk Sheriff Court to attempting to communicate indecently with an older child, for the purposes of sexual gratification, on various occasions between January 20th and February 20th 2020.

Defence solicitor Gary McAteer reserved mitigation and Sheriff Simon Collins QC deferred sentence for reports until March 17th, placing Bramham on the sex offenders' register.

According to the website of Achiltibuie-based Atlantic Diving Services, Bramham, a commercial scuba diver, PADI assistant instructor and first aid instructor, "runs diving expeditions around Scotland's Western and Northern Isles and enjoys filming underwater".

Description

A Catholic priest has been convicted of sexually assaulting a young parishioner while she visited him with her family on Christmas Day.

Martins Enegbuma carried out the attack on the victim, who is in her 20s, in a house he was living in next door to his Edinburgh church.

The 44-year-old subjected her to unwanted kisses, rubbed her foot, and ran his hands over her body.

The victim, along with her mother and another relative, had visited Enegbuma as they didnt want him to be alone for Christmas and brought him food.

Enegbuma was living in the house beside Our Lady, Mother of the Church in the citys Currie area.

He left the woman distressed after what was branded a catalogue of sexual touching during the familys 45 minute stay.

Enegbuma, who is originally from Nigeria, is understood to have been the priest at the church for several months before the incident.

He went on trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday, where he denied the charge, and was found guilty by a sheriff on Tuesday.

Fiscal depute Ross Price told the court how the family had gone to wish Enegbuma a Merry Christmas on December 25 2020.

Mr Price said Enegbuma instigated a campaign of sexual touching.

The prosecutor described how the woman was pinned in by Enegbuma during one encounter on a staircase.

He described how Enegbuma had carried out a gross abuse of position and a gross abuse of trust.

Mr Price said the victim was set upon in a predatory fashion by Enegbuma who was responsible for a catalogue of sexual touching.

It added up, he said, to become one horrible incident.

Mr Price said the victim had given evidence about her repulsion over the priests actions and his lingering wet kisses.

The court was told the victim told her mother about what had occurred later on Christmas Day having been initially frightened of her reaction.

The trial heard how the victims mother gave evidence about Enegbumas unpriestly conduct.

Enegbuma had known the woman for several months as a member of the congregation, the court was told.

Finding Enegbuma guilty, Sheriff Adrian Fraser said he considered the victim and her mother to have been credible and reliable witnesses.

The sheriff said hed found the touching did take place, that it was intentional and sexual, and there was no consent.

He told Enegbuma that the victim and her family had shown kindness to you at Christmas when he carried out the assault, adding: This is clearly a serious matter.

Enegbuma was found guilty of sexually assaulting the woman by repeatedly lungeing over her, rubbing her foot, compressing her toe, embracing her, kissing her on the hand, kissing her on the forehead, and running his hands over her body.

Sheriff Fraser deferred sentence on Enegbuma, who is now living in the citys Niddrie area, until March for reports.

He ordered Enegbuma be placed on the sex offenders register and continued his bail.

Description

A music teacher who targeted young girls during a campaign of grooming, abuse and rape has been jailed for 11 years.

Matthew Birch, 45, who was said to regard adolescent girls as being fair game, attacked his victims while he worked at secondary schools in North Lanarkshire and Fife.

The former police officer had initially been described as a fun teacher and a father figure but a court was told that he preyed on vulnerable girls with musical talent.

Birch, of Edinburgh, was found guilty in December of nine charges including rape and engaging in sexual activity while in a position of trust between 2006 and 2017. Passing sentence at the High Court in Glasgow, Judge William Gallacher said: You have been convicted of a

Description

Speaking on the I'mPossible Conversation YouTube channel, Strachan, who calls himself a 'forgiveness life coach', said he has spent time learning about "personal development".

Strachan, from Edinburgh, told how he raped a girl while she was sleeping when he was 21.

He was asked by host Sukhee M: "You mentioned about 'forgiving myself for my past'. How can people use forgiveness to improve their lives?"

The DJ and event organiser, whose stage name is 'Craig Saint', replied: "Admit what you've done and just ask the universe. For me it was forgiving myself.

"When I had my spiritual awakening last year, it was so, so scary. I was reminded of something that happened when I was 21. When I was high and totally f**ked up I raped a girl.

"I had sex with her when she was sleeping. It lasted about 10 seconds - she was in my bed and as soon as it happened I instantly knew, 's**t, I should not have done that'.

"When I had my awakening, when I discovered god or the universe, this was 2019. And I kept getting all these horrible feelings because I was getting well-known in Edinburgh. My nights were getting really popular, and I had this like shadow behind me, like 'remember what you did - remember you can't forget this'.

"I got so, so bad. It got to like last summer and like it was eating me inside. It was absolutely tearing me apart. I've got a really upbeat, happy personality and I was trying to mask my real feelings by being happy.

"I was honestly dying, I felt so, so bad. I was contemplating suicide. I just wanted out - it was really, really hard."

After leaving Edinburgh he moved out to Ibiza and started dating another girl, who he said had also been raped.

'I MADE A HORRIFIC MISTAKE'

He said: "I felt so guilty. I kept feeling these feelings of guilt and shame for months afterwards."

Strachan added: "I really hope the girl forgives me one day... I was comparing myself to all these bad people when in actual fact I made a horrific mistake."

The interviewer asked him: "Have you forgiven yourself?"

Strachan, who now lives in Barcelona, said: "I think, right now, I have. I really do. This very second, I've been getting signs from the universe that I need to tell people about it, tell people my story."

The life coach said he lives by the "law of attraction", a belief that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into people's lives.

One concerned person told The Scottish Sun: "Whats concerning is lots of people are aware of this and this man is still being allowed to work in bars and nightclubs and no one seems to care or be bothered."

Strachan told The Scottish Sun: "I don't believe that someone should have to spend a lifetime carrying their mistake if they have done everything in their power to fix the situation. I did admit to this and I also got in contact with the girl and her family to apologise for the situation. And I really hope that they do.

"That's why I created The Forgiveness Movement - to help people who are afraid to speak up about their wrongs and give them help with how to seek forgiveness and forgive themselves.

"I believe we as a society need to have love, compassion and understanding for each other rather than blaming and condemning. We all make mistakes and we should forgive each other for our wrongs rather than shaming."

The description on the YouTube video reads: "Craig is an international DJ, producer and event promoter from Glasgow with a love for bringing joy into the lives of the people he meets - whether on the dance floor or in person. He is extremely ambitious, goal orientated and fun, inspiring others to create the best version of themselves.

"By having such a strong production work ethic, spending 5 focussed years in the studio, (releasing under his Sesentayuno alias) last year he landed gigs in Switzerland, Italy, Ibiza & across Scotland, as well as selling out events in his home club at The Mash House in Edinburgh.

"Local & international crowds alike bond with his ability to create an incredibly fun party vibe, which takes the dance floor on an unforgettable journey. Craig shifted his focus throughout the lockdown to personal development, the law of attraction, coaching & helping others through their spiritual awakening.

"Now focus back on music with a fresh perspective to producing & the industry, he is using his skills to coach others how to make 'Groovy Tech House' music and preparing tracks for upcoming releases."

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: We are aware of the video and enquiries are being carried out.

Description

A serial sex offender deemed to have "psychopathic traits" has been given a life sentence after he was assessed as posing a high risk to the public.

John Bermingham, 55, was convicted of subjecting three victims to abuse during their childhoods in Edinburgh, following a trial earlier this year.

He was previously jailed for 12 years in 2002 for carrying out sex attacks on a teenager and an 11-year-old girl.

On his release he was jailed twice for breaching court-imposed orders.

He was acquitted of attempting to abduct two young girls at Hallglen, Falkirk, in Stirlingshire, following a trial in 2018. After his arrest he was found to have sweets, sleeping pills and condoms in his possession.

Following his latest conviction, the trial judge, Lord Fairley, called for a full risk assessment report to be prepared on the former boxer and career criminal.

High risk

Dr John Baird, a former consultant forensic psychiatrist at the State Hospital at Carstairs, concluded that Bermingham was a high risk.

Advocate depute Lisa Gillespie QC asked him if he was in any doubt about that he replied: "I have to say I am not."

Dr Baird added: "He has got, I would suggest, quite a number of psychopathic traits."

He told the High Court in Edinburgh he had come to the inevitable conclusion that Bermingham's risk could only be managed when he was confined in a closed prison.

Dr Baird added: "He appears to believe that he was the subject of sustained police harassment and successive miscarriages of justice."

Lord Fairley imposed an Order for Lifelong Restriction which he said was necessary to protect the public from harm.

The judge told Bermingham: "I am quite satisfied that you do, as Dr Baird concluded, meet the threshold for psychopathy."

Indeterminate sentence

He ordered him to serve a minimum of four years imprisonment under the indeterminate sentence but emphasised that was the period to be served before the Parole Board could consider his case.

He told Bermingham: "It certainly does not signify you are likely to be released at the end of that period or that you will ever be released. That is, as I have said, for others to decide."

Bermingham's latest convictions were for three charges of indecent conduct towards two girls who were subjected to repeated sexual acts by him from the ages of eight and 14 at addresses in Pilton and Muirhouse in Edinburgh in 1999.

He was also convicted of a further indecency offence against a boy, aged 13 or 14.

Bermingham, who denied the charges, was also found guilty of assaulting an adult woman. She was punched on the head and body on various occasions between 1999 and 2001 at addresses in Edinburgh

He was told that he would be on the sex offenders register indefinitely following the sentencing.

Description

A music teacher was yesterday jailed for assaulting teenage girls at a boarding school with drumsticks.

James Clark, 56, former chief drum and pipes instructor in the Army, had been found guilty of common assault by hitting or touching their backsides.

He was also convicted of breach of trust by sexual activity with, or directed at, pupils and communicating indecently with a girl.

Clark was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison after attacking seven girls, aged 13 to 18. Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that he had a 'habit' of touching girls on their bottoms at the school in Perthshire.

Jurors heard that Clark engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old in 2018, kissing in her a cupboard and performing a sex act in the bagpipe store.

The victim, now 20, said Clark 'abused' her in his car, in the band hut, 'in the drying room...and at one point in the children's tuck cupboard'. She said he had put his hand up her T-shirt and under her skirt.

One former pupil, now 23, said she felt 'violated' after being regularly struck on the backside, often during tartan skirt-fitting sessions in the school shop.

She said during a music trip to Switzerland Clark, pictured, smacked her on the behind 'pretty much all the time'.

Other ex-pupils said when they challenged him about hitting bottoms with his hands, drumsticks or a rolled-up copy of the register, father-of-six Clark, known as 'Drummie', would tell them: 'I'm your school Dad.'

One victim said when she was 16 Clark cornered her at a Christmas concert in the school and told her: 'The two of us should have children together.'

He was also said to have hugged girls and entered one pupil's bedroom when she was asleep, sat on her bed and kissed her on the forehead.

Clark, of Edinburgh, had denied the charges. Sarah Livingstone, defending, said he had an 'illicit affair' with the girl, but prosecutor Cheryl Clark said the victim had been groomed.

Sheriff Alistair Brown, sentencing, said: 'Sexual activity by a man in relation to a girl under 18...in a position of trust is absolutely prohibited. There are no exceptions. It is always a crime.'

Clark, now a gardener, showed no emotion as he was led to the cells. He will never work with children again.

Description

Judge Lady Poole praised the bravery of the four young women as she gave their attacker Dillon Anderson,21, a nine year prison sentence.

He raped the young women during a horrifying campaign of abuse which he began when he was just 14-years-old.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Anderson throttled two of his victims during the assaults. One woman - a former undergraduate of Edinburgh University - said Anderson repeatedly caused her to pass out after compressing her neck. On one occasion, he was so scared that he had killed her, he checked her pulse.

Jurors heard how he Anderson wanted her to take part in rape role plays where she would be unconscious and he would do whatever he wanted.

Describing one occasion, she was throttled, the woman - who is now aged 23 - told police: When I came round, he was checking my pulse and he said I thought you had died. He looked panicked.

One of the woman also made a covert recording of Anderson attacking her - the sounds of her screaming and telling her assailant to stop were played to jurors. Anderson could be heard laughing manically as he ignored her pleas.

The story emerged after Anderson - a former resident of Edinburghs exclusive new town area - was found guilty earlier this year of raping the women, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

On Tuesday, judge Lady Poole told Anderson that his conduct was disturbing - she also ordered the authorities to supervise him for four years following his release from custody.

Passing sentence, Lady Poole told him that she had read statements from the women detailing how Andersons conduct has affected them.

She added: The sexual violence you perpetrated is disturbing. One of your victims spoke to losing consciousness because of you compressing her neck.

When she came round, there were times you were having sex with her. There were other times when she came to, and you said you thought shed died and laughed, or you were checking her pulse because you thought she might have died.

These were terrifying experiences. I have read victim impact statements. Your victims suffered grievously at your hands, and their contact with you has left them with long lasting emotional scars.

They are to be commended for having the courage to come forward, and go through the difficult experience of giving evidence about what happened to them.

Anderson committed his offences between May 2014 and January 2020.

During the trial, the court heard Anderson claim he was a virgin when he physically restrained a girl, who was then aged 14, at a house in Newtongrange, Midlothian.

The court heard how he forced her to lie on a bed and removed her clothing before raping her on an occasion between May 2014 and June 2014 .

On various occasions between August 2015, at addresses in Edinburgh and West Lothian, Anderson raped another girl who was aged 18.

Anderson then repeatedly raped the Edinburgh University student - who was aged 19 - between September 2017 and December 2017.

The court heard how Anderson often choked her during sex.

Jurors heard extracts from statements she gave to the police.

She told detectives: He would use a lot of force and I kept saying get off. I tried to grab his hands and continue. He would squeeze my throat and I couldnt breathe.

I dont know how long it went on for. But I got the same feelings as before the fuzziness and everything.

I started thinking is that what dying feels like.

Some of the times he did this to me, he would say I actually thought you had died and he would laugh. I eventually passed out.

As he strangled me, I lost complete consciousness. I am not sure how I had lost consciousness but when I came around I was really sore. It was intense pain.

The young woman also told the court of how Anderson subjected her to unwanted attention and had bombarded her with unwanted phone calls and social media messages.

Anderson also preyed on another woman between December 2018 and January 24 2020. The court also heard how he also throttled this woman, who is now aged 24, before raping her.

During the recording which was played to jurors, the woman was heard crying and repeatedly screaming get off of me. Anderson can be then heard telling the woman: breathe, breathe, breathe and breathe in, breathe out and inhale, inhale, inhale.

The woman can be heard to ask: What are you doing you f***ing psycho? Anderson was then heard laughing.

On Tuesday, defence solicitor advocate Iain McSporran QC told the court that Anderson had started to appreciate how his actions had affected his women.

He added: There is the beginning of an acknowledgement on his part. There is an insight on his part into how his conduct affected the complainers and how it was utterly inappropriate.

These are perhaps the beginning of rehabilitation.

Passing sentence, Lady Poole also placed Anderson on the Sex Offenders Register for life. She also ordered that Anderson not contact his victims for 25 years.

She said: Your victims have suffered long term effects from what you did to them, and deserve to be protected from you.

Description

At the High Court in Aberdeen today, Lord Burns sentenced Michael Dixon to 4 years imprisonment after the offender was convicted of charges of sexual abuse.

On sentencing, Lord Burns made the following statement in Court: You were convicted on 12 March 2021 of charges of sexual abuse in the late 1980s. It comprised of the most serious forms of abuse including vaginal rape and anal penetration. This occurred on many occasions. Your victim was 11-12 years of age. You were 14-15. She was and remains deeply traumatised by these crimes, as was obvious from the way she gave her evidence. You continue to deny that you abused her and appear unable or unwilling to accept responsibility.

You also abused another child when she was 9 years old. You were then 17 to 18. You continue to deny these offences also.

You have convictions for sexual offending some of which occurred in June and September 1990. It too was perpetrated against 3 young girls of 7 and 9. After that in 2001 you abused another 9 year old girl on one occasion.

Your offending behaviour thus spanned a period from 1987 to 2001 but the majority of it occurred between 1987 and 1991 when you were 14 to 18 years of age.

I must have regard to the fact that you have remained out of trouble since 2001 and that there is no suggestion that you now present a material risk of further offending. The current assessment is of low risk. That is in contrast to any assessment which had been made at the time of the offences.

I can also take account of the views in the Social Work report that your offending was at least in part a result of adolescent problems which you were experiencing. You appear to have managed to overcome those difficulties. Despite your denial of the current offences, you appear to recognise the harm you caused to your other victims and have made positive efforts to desist from further offending.

You are now 47 and have a stable relationship. You have made a new life for yourself and you have a good employment record. It is to your credit that you have also taken an initiative in supporting people with mental health in your last employment.

The offences of which you have recently been convicted are very serious ones which must be dealt with by a significant custodial sentence. I have full regard to your age when you committed them. I recognise that public protection does not require to form a material element in this sentence.

In all the circumstances, I can limit that to one of 4 years. That is a cumulo sentence on all the charges. I will backdate that to 12 March 2021.

You will remain on the Sex Offenders register indefinitely."

Description

An Edinburgh pensioner who sexually abused a string of schoolgirls over a 15-year period has been jailed.

Frank Boyd, 73, repeatedly molested the youngsters by touching their breasts and genitals when the girls visited his home in Edinburgh.

Boyd also climbed into bed with the girls and rubbed his body against them after being left alone with them on occasions between 2004 and last year.

The elderly predator even groped one girl while his wife slept in the next room and was eventually caught when a victim told a teacher what had been happening to her during the visits to his home.

During the police investigation two more victims then came forward to reveal they had also been sexually assaulted by the OAP while in his home.

Boyd - who served in the British Army for 25 years - pleaded guilty to six sexual offences against the three girls when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

He returned to the dock for sentencing on Friday where Sheriff Kenneth McGowan jailed Boyd for 27 months and placed on the sex offenders register for ten years.

Prosecutor Aidan Higgins read a written narration to the court stating Boyd targeted the first victim in 2004 when she was just 11-years-old.

The girls police statement described how Boyd sexually assaulted her on various occasions over a three-year period while his wife was either in the kitchen or having a nap.

She said he would encourage her to lie on top of him and abused her by putting his hands under her clothing and touching her genitals.

The girl added she didnt ever tell anyone about the attacks as she was stressed about upsetting anyone.

The second victim also visited the perverts home and said the abuse began around 2008 when she was 11-years-old.

She described to police one occasion when Boyd, of Broomhouse, Edinburgh, climbed into bed with her and she was forced to push him off her after he had touched her genitals.

The girl also said Boyd had a fixation on my boobs as from 11 to 12 I began to develop and that he would regularly brush my boobs with his elbow in the passing.

She added: I began asking people to chum me to the kitchen so I wouldn't have to be alone with him.

I never told anyone about this at the time because of how well respected he was. He previously had a career in the army and he was a very social man.

I was sure I wouldn't have been believed as it was my word against [his]. This behaviour went on for years.

The third victim was just seven when Boyd began sexually abusing her in a campaign that lasted three years.

The court heard Boyd routinely sought out opportunities to be alone with the youngster in his kitchen or his bedroom.

The fiscal said Boyd would pull her towards him, place his hands over and under her clothing, and grope her private parts.

The fiscal added: On some occasions the accused would get into bed with the complainer and rub his body against her back.

Description

A former soldier who was part of the Queen's guard at Balmoral Castle has been jailed for nine years for sexual abuse against children.

John Paul Hoy repeatedly molested and raped two girls and indecently assaulted a third victim in his home in Edinburgh between 1986 and 1996.

Judge Lady Scott said the 46-year-old had "dominated and terrified" his victims.

Jailing him at High Court in Edinburgh, she said Hoy had blighted their lives.

Lady Scott said: "These offences constitute a very serious and persistent course of sexual abuse of children."

"You blighted their lives and caused significant and obvious damage, especially to the second victim who spoke of her childhood being taken from her."

"The damage to her was all too evident in her evidence, as indeed was her bravery."

The judge told Hoy, who was assessed as posing a high risk of sexual harm: "The scale of the abuse to the first and second victims is extraordinarily serious."

Lady Scott said that in sentencing Hoy she took into account he was also a child when a large part of the offending occurred.

She also noted that Hoy had lengthy Army service which had left him struggling with the effects of post traumatic stress disorder.

'Pomp and circumstance'

Hoy was 12 when he began committing sex crimes in 1986 against a nine-year-old girl with the abuse escalating into repeated rapes.

His second victim was aged seven when he began preying on her in 1988 and she too became the target for repeated rapes.

A third girl was indecently assaulted by him at a house in Edinburgh on two occasions when she was aged between nine and 13.

Hoy had denied the 11 charges of rape, indecent conduct and indecent assault. He was found guilty following a trial.

He was acquitted of a further rape charge against a girl aged 14 or 15 allegedly committed at another address in Edinburgh between 2004 and 2006.

At his trial he lodged a special defence of alibi which stated that for two periods in 2004 he was stationed with the Army in Aberdeenshire at Balmoral, the Queen's residence in Scotland.

He told the court: "We were part of the Queen's royal guard at Balmoral so it was pomp and circumstance, but also with guard duties."

His first victim told jurors at his trial that she was subjected to repeated abuse. She said: "I was a little girl. I was scared. I was living in terror some days."

His second victim told the court: "I didn't have a childhood. My childhood was taken away from."

'Abhorrent' crimes

Defence counsel Iain McSporran QC said Hoy continued to maintain his complete denial of guilt.

Hoy was placed on the sex offender's register indefinitely.

The children's charity, NSPCC Scotland, said Hoy subjected young girls to "terrifying ordeals", and the crimes he committed against them was "abhorrent".

A spokesman said: "They have shown immense bravery in speaking out.

"Cases such as these show that people who experience sexual abuse will be listened to and justice can be achieved. It is so important that these girls receive the support they need to recover."

Description

A PERVERT who was caught with hundreds of child abuse movies on his phone by his new boyfriend has escaped a jail sentence.

Blair Houliston was found with films showing children as young as two-years-old bound and gagged while being sexually abused by adults.

Houliston, 27, used WhatsApp and Kick Messenger to contact paedophiles in the US who sent him the horrific abuse images.

He told one online paedophile he was into kids, rape and incest and was caught with hundreds of images and movies when police raided his home in 2018.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told Houliston was arrested after his new boyfriend was left shocked after spotting disturbing material on his mobile phone and raised the alarm.

Houliston admitted possessing the indecent images of children during an appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this year and returned to the dock for sentencing.

Sheriff John Mundy said: This behaviour is quite disgraceful and I hope you have had some insight into how this affects children.

However I am treating you a first offender and the report heavily recommends in your case a community payback order.

But I have to warn you now that I was considering a custodial sentence and if you dont comply [with the CPO] it wont be a short one.

Houliston, of Greendykes, Edinburgh, was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for two years and on a supervision order for the same length of time as a direct alternative to custody.

He will also have to attend the Moving Forward Making Changes organisation as part of a conduct requirement imposed by the court.

Previously the court was told Houliston was in contact with paedophiles in Texas and the online chats had been extremely sexual in nature

He had been asked by one pervert What are you into, sir? and Houliston was said to have replied kids, rape and incest.

He was then sent scores of child abuse videos and images through the online apps.

Prosecutor Rosie Cook said Houliston had met a new partner through a dating app in March 2018 and invited the man back to his home later that month.

The fiscal said during the meeting the man saw something concerning on Houlistons mobile phone and decided to contact the police.

Ms Cook added officers found hundreds of images including those of two-year-old children being abused on a computer program known as Mega, which was said to be similar to Dropbox.

Solicitor Kevin Connor, defending, said his client was a first offender and had suffered from ADHD from the age of six though he added Houliston is not using that as an excuse into his behaviour.

Mr Connor added the amount of images shared by Houliston was small and he had been attending the Stop It Now group since pleading guilty to the offences.

Houliston pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children at his home address between January 21, 2015 and April 4, 2018.

He also admitted to distributing indecent images of children between January 21, 2015 and January 21, 2018.

Description

A sports therapist who sexually assaulted more than 20 male victims during massage sessions has been jailed.  Matthew Priest fondled his clients after they had contacted his sports masseur business to be treated for muscle injuries.  
 
Priest, 41, carried out a three-year campaign of sexual assaults on the male clients at his Edinburgh flat where he operated his business, The Edinburgh Massage.The therapist admitted six attacks on men in December 2018 and was sentenced to a five-year Sexual Offenders Prevention Order, a two-year supervision order and unpaid work.Following press coverage of the case more victims contacted the police to report they had also been sexually assaulted by Priest.Priest pleaded guilty to a further 15 sex assaults on unsuspecting male clients at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

Sentencing him today, Sheriff Donald Corke said: “You pled guilty to 15 charges of sexual assault on men in the course of your work as a sports masseur.

“These further 15 cases have arisen from the publicity surrounding the case so it is no fault of the prosecution that they were not prosecuted at the same time.“You performed intimate massages on these men including the full removal of their clothing and massaging their groin area.
“Your behaviour was clearly harmful, your behaviour was planned and you abused your professional position. You even charged them as if you had provided the services they expected.”

Priest was jailed for 16 months and placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years.Previously prosecutor Susan Dickson told the court victims included students, amateur runners and an Edinburgh Fringe performer who required a professional sports therapist to treat muscle injuries.
Most of the men contacted Priest for treatment after reading reviews of his services online while the pervert also made contact with one man in the changing rooms of a gym and offered to help him with his injuries.

The victims - who cannot be identified due to legal reasons - mostly believed the sexual touching by Priest was “ an accident” at the time but later reported the incidents.

Defending solicitor Matthew Nicolson said all the offences took place over the same time period and that his client was “a very different man and is getting on with his life”.The brief said Priest has set up two new businesses including a photography company and that he has “no intention of going back to his previous field of employment”.

Mr Nicolson added: ‘He fully understands these are serious charges and these are the sort of charges that custody would be in the forefront of any judge’s mind.”

Priest admitted sexually assaulting 15 men at his Easter Road home, between January 2015 and June 2018.

Priest offered £45 per hour advanced sports massage sessions and according to his website, which is now closed.

Description

A hairdresser who deliberately tried to infect 10 men with HIV has been jailed for at least 12 years.

Daryll Rowe became the first man in the country to be found guilty of intentionally setting out to spread the virus after meeting the men on gay dating app Grindr.

Branded "grotesque" and a "sociopath" by his victims, the 27-year-old was convicted in November of 10 charges - five of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and five of attempting to do so.

Rowe, wearing a grey suit and open-collared white shirt, showed no emotion as he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 12 years at Brighton Crown Court on Wednesday.

Judge Christine Henson QC, sentencing, referred to his crimes as a "determined hateful campaign of sly violence".

"You are the first individual to be sentenced for Section 18 offences in the context of infecting others with HIV," she said.

"With the full knowledge of the risk you posed to others and the legal implications of engaging in risky sexual practices, you embarked on a deliberate campaign to infect other men with the HIV virus.

"Unfortunately for five of the men you met, your campaign was successful."

The judge continued: "They describe living with a life sentence as a result of your cruel and senseless acts.

"Many of those men were young men in their 20s at the time they had the misfortune to meet you."

She told Rowe he poses a significant risk to the public, adding: "You will potentially remain a danger to others for the rest of your life."

After being diagnosed in April 2015 in his home city of Edinburgh, Rowe met men on gay dating app Grindr and had sex with eight of them in Brighton, East Sussex, between October that year and February 2016, before fleeing to the North East where he went on the run from police, targeting two more victims.

His six-week trial heard he embarked on a cynical and deliberate campaign to infect men with HIV, refusing treatment and ignoring advice from doctors.

He insisted on having unprotected sex with men, claiming he was "clean". When they refused, he tampered with condoms, tricking them into thinking he was practising safe sex.

Afterwards he would become aggressive and taunt them over text, telling one: "I have HIV. Lol. Whoops!"

Rowe repeatedly lied to authorities and would use aliases with his victims.

He told jurors he believed he had been cured of the virus by the time he moved to Brighton, having adopted the practice of drinking his own urine as a treatment, supplemented with natural remedies, including oregano, coconut and olive leaf oils.

He sat in the dock, showing no emotion during his sentencing hearing as prosecutor Caroline Carberry QC read out statements from nine of his 10 victims, which she said showed the "devastating consequences" of Rowe's actions.

Many told how they had considered suicide having suffered physical and psychological damage, needing to take daily medication.

Rowe's first victim told how he had considered taking his own life after he was diagnosed with HIV in January 2016.

He said: "Darryl has destroyed my life. I would rather he had murdered me than left me to live my life like this."

One said he thought he was going to die when he found out he had the virus, while another told of the "shattering effect" it had on him and his family, believing "it was a life-long sentence, which would eventually kill me off" because of the stigma surrounding the disease.

"While for some cases of GBH it might be possible for victims to put the acts behind them, unfortunately this will never be the case for me," said a different victim, who requires daily medication.

"There is a virus inside me which will give me a horrible and painful death unless I take pills for the rest of my life."

The court heard a psychiatric report found Rowe's crimes were carried out with a "significant degree of rage, control, sadism and violence".

"This defendant is the first individual in the UK who falls to be sentenced for Section 18 offences in the context of the intentional infection of others with the HIV virus," said the prosecutor.

"This was a deliberate campaign to infect multiple men with a serious life-threatening and life-changing disease such that it falls outside the sentences envisaged by the (sentencing) guidelines."

Felicity Gerry QC highlighted comparable cases from around the world, urging the judge to pass a sentence that would not add to the "social stigma" of HIV, but inform the public the virus is not what it was in the 90s.

"He was a vulnerable young man in a community where the disclosure of one's HIV status remains unusual, in the context of how he was meeting people," she said.

"This is not a terminal illness. Those who live with HIV have good and high life expectancies."

She added: "There really is a need for therapy and not incarceration."

Sussex Police came under fire over claims they put gay men in danger when they released Rowe on bail, after which he continued his campaign.

Northumbria Police have been accused of wrongfully arresting and detaining one of his unsuspecting victims as he came to terms with his boyfriend's crimes.

Rowe's final victim blamed police for putting him at risk and said more could have been done sooner to stop Rowe's offending.

It was 18 days after his arrest that Sussex Police and Brighton and Hove City Council urged gay men to get tested for HIV if they had been sexually involved with "a man in his 20s with a Scottish accent".

Police appealed for anyone with information or potential victims to come forward but refused to publish his name and photo.

He was later identified by a newspaper, prompting widespread media reports.

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A YOUTH worker caught swapping child abuse images with other perverts online and even encouraging one to rape a baby in disturbing Skype conversations today walked free from court after avoiding a jail term.

Matthew Lynch told cops "I've never done anything - I work with children" when they explained why his home was being raided in November last year.

But an investigation into the contents of his smartphone and laptop unmasked horrifying conversations with online perverts.

In one conversation another depraved paedophile told Lynch he could have watched him with a "zero" - a codeword for a young child he was abusing - if he had been online.

Lynch asked the man if he had abused the child to which he replied "I would have been tempted if you would have been watching."

Fiscal depute Saima Rasheed told Dundee Sheriff Court: "The accused then wrote 'looks tasty' - and asked how the man had abused the child.

"His computers were forensically examined and six indecent images were recovered from Skype.

"They depict boys aged between three and six.

"Skype chat conversation logs were also found.

"They discuss sexual abuse of a child by another male.

"There were also chat logs on his iPhone."

Lynch was employed as an assistant youth worker with the Dundee Carers Centre when his sick crime was uncovered.

He is listed on their website as having worked as part of their young carers project.

It is understood he left the charity within days of the police raid last November.

The organisation provides support, advocacy and training for those who provide unpaid care for family or friends - as well as organising short breaks for carers and those they care for.

Lynch, 24, of Calder Grove, Edinburgh, pleaded guilty on indictment to charges of downloading child abuse images between March 17 and November 17 last year and distributing them on March 23 last year at an address in Dundee's Portpatrick Terrace.

Defence solicitor Billy Rennie said: "He lived an isolated lifestyle and developed somewhat secretive relationships.

"Thats how this ultimately led to the offences in questions.

"In these discussions online he was to some extent let into a discussion about these images.

"This was with an individual he'd never met and whose name he didn't even know.

"They were fairly graphic and horrific images."

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said: "These are serious offences but in the circumstances I think I can deal with it by a community payback order."

He imposed a community payback order with 200 hours unpaid work, two-and-a-half years supervision, an order to take part in a sex offenders rehabilitation programme and conduct requirements around his contact with children and internet use.

Lynch will also be on the sex offenders register for 30 months.

A spokesman for NSPCC Scotland said: "These were extremely worrying offences that involved images of children being abused.

"These are real children and behind every single one of these pictures is a young victim who will need considerable support to recover from the crimes inflicted on them.

"Possessing and distributing indecent images of children is an appalling crime. It's vital that police continue to investigate those responsible and bring them to court and people on the sex offenders' register for crimes of this nature must be strictly monitored."

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A man who sexually assaulted women while they slept has  been jailed.

At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, Justin Lovell was sentenced to seven in prison for the rape of two victims and the sexual assault of another at various addresses across the Capital.

Officers from the city’s Public Protection Unit initially began their investigation into 25-year-old Lovell after a 19-year-old female reported that she woke to find herself being attacked following a party in the west of the city in January 2015.

Further offences were then uncovered after detectives spoke with more women who disclosed similar offences, all of which occurred while they slept, having attended parties.

Lovell was detained on 29th July and was convicted last month.

Detective Constable Richard Johnston from the PPU at Fettes Police Station said: “I would firstly like to thank the women who came forward to report his offences to police.

“Their bravery and continued assistance during our inquiries undoubtedly led to Lovell’s conviction and means he cannot carry out further crimes against women as he serves a custodial sentence.

“Justin Lovell has shown himself to be an opportunistic predator, who targeted woman while they were at their most vulnerable and left them deeply traumatised as a result of these attacks.

“He will now spend several years in prison for his crimes and we would like to assure all survivors of sexual offences that their reports will be handled with the utmost seriousness.

“Whenever such reports are made to us we will investigate thoroughly and work closely with our partners at the Crown Office to bring those responsible to justice and ensure they are removed from our communities.

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A former council senior planning officer, convicted of downloading child abuse images, is re-considering appealing his dismissal.

Kingsley Drinkwater (51), was fined 1000 and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years after he pleaded guilty in February to the charge.

After he was later dismissed by Midlothian Council for failing to inform his manager of the charge he originally appealed.

He told the Advertiser: I did appeal. They seemed to take none of my personal circumstances into it.

But my circumstances have changed now. I dont know if I would gain much from it. I had thought I had nothing to lose. But to be honest the stress of the wait has come back to me.

It probably looks worse than it is. There is a whole lot more to this.

Its something I still dont understand why I did it.

Im in a difficult situation. Im trying to get myself back together. I have had a terrible time since 2008.

It doesnt look good and I know it. But it was a minor offence that I have been fined for and thats it.

In February this year Mr Drinkwater pleaded guilty to downloading indecent photographs of children on August 23, 2013, at his home in Edinburgh.

He told the Advertiser that his life had been hell when he committed the offence.

He said: I have lost my daughter, I get limited access.

Im trying to put my life back together. I have lost pretty much everything. Its been hell. My house was repossessed. And at the moment I cant afford to pay the rent on my current house.

I have been climbing mountains for the last 10 years, particularly the last four years. Every time I think I think I have got clear something else happens.

And right now you have presented me with another mountain to get over.

I have dreaded it since February that something would happen, but there is a lot more to it than just what it says on the charge sheet.

There is people that deserve to be handled in this way. But I havent been involved in anything, just looking at stuff on the internet.

There was no offence against any person, just looking at stuff and deleting it.

Because I was at such a ridiculously low point at the time I wasnt thinking about what I was doing.

Believe it or not Im a decent person who tries to help others and always does the right thing, but I was so low at the time. My mind wasnt with it. I could have done anything.

A spokesperson for Midlothian Council said: Midlothian Council does not comment on individual disciplinary matters.

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A man who had sex with two underage girls he met in an internet chat room has been jailed for eight years. Steven Brodie, 29, slept with a 13-year-old girl in her bedroom in Caithness after first leading her to believe he was the same age as her.

He later had sex with 15-year-old girl in the Highlands.

Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lord McPhail said Brodie had shown little thought for the consequences on his victims.

The case had earlier been referred to the High Court from Wick Sheriff Court after Sheriff Andrew Berry said he could only impose a five-year prison sentence.

This is a clear case of the callous, cynical and deliberate grooming and exploitation of a child by an adult male for sexual purposes
- Lord McPhail

Brodie, from Edinburgh, admitted he had sex with the 13-year-old girl and that he was aware of her age. He also admitted having intercourse with the other youngster, but said he thought she was 16.

The court was told that Brodie swapped about 200 text messages and calls with the 13-year-old girl he met in a chatroom before driving to her Highland home and having sex with her after the victim's mother left for work.

Police later discovered that he had also formed a relationship with a 15-year-old girl in a chatroom and taken her to a bed-and-breakfast for sex.

Lord McPhail said: "This is a clear case of the callous, cynical and deliberate grooming and exploitation of a child by an adult male for sexual purposes."

"You were 28 at the time and developed a relationship with a child of 13 on the internet, well aware she was only that age."

'Affected her schooling'

The judge said a background report made it clear Brodie had been more worried about the consequences of the case for himself than for his victims.

He added: "Your behaviour towards the youngest child affected her schooling and her relationship with her mother. You have been concerned mainly with the consequences for yourself."

Brodie met the younger victim in November last year after she accessed the internet on her phone and was connected with a chatroom.

She at first thought he was about the same age as her, but as they exchanged messages she became aware of his true age.

After meeting her for sex, Brodie kept in contact with his victim before she revealed to a friend what had happened.

The friend then spoke to her own mother, who contacted the police and the mother of the victim.

Defence solicitor advocate Neil Wilson said Brodie was "at a loss to explain his behaviour towards the end of last year".

He said Brodie maintained he was not actively searching for a girl under the age of consent when he went into the chatroom, but was looking for a sexual relationship.

Brodie earlier pled guilty to three charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with the underage girls.

He also admitted two offences under protection of children and prevention of sexual offences legislation.

The mother of the younger victim has previously warned other parents about the potential dangers of young girls to access chatrooms on their mobile phones.