Latest Offenders Edinburgh

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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.

Description

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.

Description

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.

Description

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".

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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.

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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