Latest Offenders Lanarkshire

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A former Police Scotland officer who subjected three former partners to violent attacks, sexual abuse and controlling behaviour has been jailed.

Christopher Ferguson, 31, targeted his victims over a 14-year period in the Lanarkshire area, including while at Glasgow's Helen Street police station.

He subjected one woman to repeated assaults, told her what she could wear, read her text messages and took away her mobile phone.

Ferguson was found guilty of nine charges including two counts of voyeurism.

He stalked one of the women through repeated phone calls and texts, delivered unwanted gifts, monitored her social media and waited outside a relative's home for her.

He sent a second woman intimate photographs of himself, repeatedly shouted and swore at her and made threats to harm himself.

The woman was also subjected to repeated violent assaults, including choking her, causing injury on multiple occasions.

He stalked the same woman by repeatedly monitoring her movements, turning up at her home and contacting her about an ongoing police investigation against him.

A third woman was also repeatedly attacked by Ferguson, causing her to fall down a flight of stairs.

'Unimaginable trauma'

He was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison and his name has been added to the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Non-harassment orders, preventing Ferguson from contacting or attempting to contact his victims, were also granted for a 10-year period.

Les Brown, procurator fiscal for South Strathclyde, said Ferguson is a "habitual domestic abuser" who inflicted "unimaginable trauma" on his victims.

“It took courage for them to speak out against a figure of some authority and I would commend their determination to seek justice," he said.

“The Crown is committed to the effective and fair prosecution of domestic and sexual crime, no matter who the offender is.

“I would urge anyone who has been the victim of similar offences to come forward.

“You will be listened to and supported as we use all the tools available to us to seek justice.”

Description

An award-winning BBC Scotland film director has been banned from using social media after being convicted of sending explicit sexual images of himself to three teenage girls.

Simon Craig, who worked as a writer and director for BBCs The Social under the name Simon Fox, targeted his victims when he was a DJ at under-18s club nights in Edinburgh.

He added the girls, then aged 14 and 15, on social media platforms before going on to send them explicit images of himself and pornographic videos.

A victim, now in her 30s, said: He thought he was untouchable. I doubt were the only vict-ims, Im sure there will be more.

Craig, 41, from Airdrie, Lanarkshire, was convicted of lewd, explicit and libidinous practices and behaviour, at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, towards three victims between February 2005 and July 2007.

Despite his conviction, Craig remained as someone commissioned by the public broadcaster until last week.

His work was listed on their site until we asked them about his criminal past. His profile has since been removed.

In June, Craig was handed a community payback order, placed under supervision for 18 months and banned from social media platforms.

He was snared after a victim came across his photography website. She was so concerned over the images feat-uring kids she reported his crimes against her.

She said: The sentence he has been handed is not nearly enough after what he has done. I met him through Studio 24 when he was in his mid -twenties and I was 14.

He then added me on the Vampire Freaks website and it wasnt long before he started sending me images. It was really disturbing and unsettling. I was a child. I didnt ask for any of it.

He went on to become an award-winning actor, writer and director. He then began working as a freelance photographer and started to work on one with young girls doing photo sessions.

It was when I came across his website I knew I had to come forward. It was full of photographs of young girls in compromising positions and very little clothing.

The positions and poses are uncomfortably suggestive. He is well known in film circles but, in truth, he is a predator.

BBC The Social is a digital platform based in Glasgow that develops creative new talent.

On the BBC Scotland site, his profile, listed under Simon Fox, explained that he began writing at the age of 17 before progressing onto filmmaking.

He has created web content and short films and internet series Met-alhedz was nominated for Best International Comedy at the 2016 Miami Web Fest.

The BBC website stated: Simon continues to write and direct for film and TV, and enjoys photography on the side.

Craig was convicted of sending one of the victims, then 14-years-old, explicit images of himself between February 2005 and 2006.

He was also convicted of repeatedly sending another victim, then aged 15, sexual images of himself and messages of a sexual nature between July 2006 and July 2007.

Craig was also convicted of sending another 15-year-old victim sexualised messages and a pornographic video.

The offences took place at his Musselbrugh home.

A BBC Scotland spokeswoman said: This individual was a former freelance contributor to The Social and we have not worked with him since October 2022. He was contracted under the name Simon Fox, not Craig, and has never been employed as BBC staff.

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A 38-year-old man has been jailed for 12 years for a series of sexual and violent offences in the Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire areas.

David Cooper was sentenced today, Friday, 5 July, 2024, at the High Court in Glasgow after previously being convicted on Friday, 10 May.

The offences were committed against four women over a 20-year period between 2002 and 2022.

He has also been sentenced to non-harassment orders against the four women.

Detective Inspector Cheryl Gebbie said: “David Cooper is a dangerous individual who has committed a variety of serious crimes against his victims, subjecting them to sexual abuse and violence.

“We acknowledge how difficult this have been for Cooper’s victims and their families. We hope that his conviction and sentencing will bring them some comfort and our thoughts remain with them.

“We would like to take this opportunity to reach out to any victims of sexual and physical violence to please report it to police. This type of behaviour will not be tolerated and we will continue to work closely with our partner agencies to support victims involved.”

Description

A sex predator has been locked up for a New Year attack on a woman he claimed he thought was his wife of 13 years.

Roddy Kerr struck at his house in Hamilton, Lanarkshire shortly after the bells on January 1, 2020.

The 47-year-old told jurors he had gone into bed in a spare room and "nuzzled" beside who he believed was his wife. Others had been at his home that night for the celebrations, but he reckoned everyone had left by that time.

He went on to intimately touch the person beside him in the bed. Kerr insisted she was awake and "engaging" in what was happening.

But, it emerged it was not his wife, but another woman who had been molested.

Jurors at the High Court in Glasgow heard that Kerr later sent a text to the victim apologising.

Asked at the trial what he was saying sorry for, Kerr stated: "The incident that happened - because I got into bed thinking it was with my wife."

Kerr said he met with the woman a week later to "try and clear the air" and "put it behind us". He recalled: "It was awkward, did not really say much. Silence, but a few words exchanged. Not a lot said."

It was months later that the matter was reported to the police.

In cross examination, prosecutor Alex Sutherland put to Kerr: "You had mistaken your wife of 13 years for this woman? I suggest that is preposterous. It is not true."

Kerr: "No."

Kerr also said he "did not think" he had volunteered to go to the police after what happened.

First offender Kerr was found guilty of sexual assault. Jurors deleted the allegation of attempted rape.

Sentencing had been deferred for background reports.

As Kerr returned to the dock, his lawyer Donna Armstrong said: "He remains married to his wife. She supports him and has done since the commission of the offence."

Judge Kevin McCallum KC said Kerr had "took advantage" of a woman at his home that night.

He stated: "Your actions have had a significant impact on your victim."

The judge said there was no alternative to a prison sentence and locked Kerr up for 14 months.

He was also put on the sex offenders list and hit him with a non-harassment order banning him from approaching the woman for the next 10 years.

Description

A social worker has been jailed for eight years after he was convicted for a series of rapes and sexual assaults.

Thomas Proctor was found guilty of attacking three women in Glasgow, Fife and Lanarkshire between January 2002 and August 2019.

The High Court in Glasgow heard he used his job to prey on the women, as well as threatening to have the children of two of them removed from their care.

The 43-year-old raped one woman while she was recovering in hospital.

He also took advantage of a victim after she drank water with a mystery substance in it.

Proctor, from Airdrie, Lanarkshire, had denied the accusations but jurors found him guilty of a total of 11 charges.

'Simply disgraceful'

The charges against him included the repeated rape and indecent assault of the first woman at different locations in Lanarkshire.

Proctor was found guilty of sexually assaulting the second woman at a flat in Glasgow's Maryhill.

He was also convicted of raping and making threats to a third woman in Fife and Lanarkshire.

Judge William Gallacher imposed an 11-year extended sentence on Proctor, meaning he will be in prison for eight years and under supervision upon his release for three years.

The judge told Proctor his actions were "simply disgraceful."

He added: "It is difficult to figure out the appropriate sentence due to the level of abuse carried out over a period of time.

"I will impose a significant penalty. You will have grasped that because of the gravity of this case, there is only one thing I can do."

After the sentencing, one of Proctor's victims said: "I am really pleased with the judge's reflections of the offences.

"I understand the appropriate length of the sentence however my fear is that it doesn't reflect the number of potential other victims."

An indefinite non-harassment order against Proctor's victims was granted. He was also put on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.

In his closing speech to jurors, prosecutor Alan Parfery told how Proctor was "calculated in a predatory fashion" towards his victims.

The first woman was raped while she was recuperating in hospital from a medical procedure.

Proctor attacked the woman again at a house in Lanarkshire after he came into the room and pulled down her pyjamas.

The second victim recalled waking up to finding Proctor molesting her.

The final woman got to know Proctor having met him online.

The court heard she ended up in his company after she returned from a night out with friends at the Edinburgh Festival.

She said Proctor gave her a glass of water and they kissed, but her next memory was waking up in some pain.

Prosecutors said he had caused the woman to "ingest an unknown substance in water" to overpower her for sexual activity.

Jurors heard a similar sort of incident happened on two other occasions.

He gave her water, told her to "drink up" before she later awoke and had "flashbacks" to what had happened.

In his closing speech, Mr Parfery said Proctor spoke of his position as a social worker to make sure threats to two of the women "packed a punch".

Referring to one of the victim, the prosecutor put to him: "You told her that you held such a job and how the system worked.

"That she should be intimate with you if she wanted to keep her child. The cruellest of cruel threats."

Proctor denied the accusation adding that he never mentioned his work to "threaten" anyone.

He had latterly been a social worker in the Alloa area in Clackmannanshire before being suspended.

After the case Clackmannanshire Council confirmed Proctor was no longer employed by the local authority.

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A man who threatened to share intimate images of young women he met through social media has been jailed for a year.

Scott Smith, 34, messaged three women on Snapchat and struck up conversations before he convinced them to send naked photos to him.

But Smith demanded his victims, who were aged between 15 and 20, send more photos or he would share pictures he already had online.

One victim was left so distressed by his conduct she dropped out of her academic studies.

His offending came to light after police raided his home in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, as part of a separate investigation that discovered a sickening stash of 37 images and 26 videos of children being abused.

Evidence uncovered during the raid showed he had been communicating with the women and threatening them.

Smith appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted possessing indecent images of children and a breach of the peace between June 2019 and January 2022.

He was blasted by Sheriff John Hamilton KC for his 'manipulative' and 'exploitative' behaviour. The sheriff jailed the first offender and placed him on the sex offenders' register for 10 years and also banned him from contacting his victims for 10 years.

Depute fiscal Scott O'Connor told the court how Smith was caught sending messages to the three women.

He said: "It became apparent he had been communicating with females on Snapchat and the investigation uncovered he had been communicating and requesting images of a sexual nature.

"The complainers thereafter sent images of themselves to the accused, he received the said images and they then received a message stating that he had their nude pictures and had their contacts and social media pages.

"If they failed to send further images of themselves of a sexual nature, he would post them to their contacts and onto their social media profiles.

"On receipt of that message the complainers thereafter contacted the police and they were blocked by the accused and there was no further contact.

"During the investigation the three complainers were identified and it was discovered that one was aged 15 at the time."

Ian Scott, defending, said: "He had a good track record up until this and his concern is that the custodial threshold has been reached but I have done my best to assure him that alternatives do exist and the court has to consider them."

Sheriff Hamilton said: "You were engaging with three separate females on social media and persuaded them, I don't know how, to send images of themselves of a sexual and compromising nature.

"You then effectively blackmailed them by threatening to release them to friends, family and the public at large. Your position is that you pled guilty because your lawyer told you to do so and you have accepted no responsibility whatsoever.

"I accept everything in your life seemed to be going well before but this exploitative and manipulative behaviour cannot be left unmarked."

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AN AGEING paedophile who committed more than 500 child sex offences while he was living in Carlisle has been jailed for more than 30 years.

A judge told 78-year-old Stephen Mahoney, who admitted 12 sample charges encompassing multiple child rapes and indecent assaults against four victims, that he was the most prolific sex offender he had ever seen.

Mahoney originally denied wrongdoing but he finally admitted his guilt, pleading guilty to specimen charges that represent a catalogue of crimes over 17 years. 

They included hundreds of indecent assaults and rapes, dating back to the 1970s. He was finally brought to justice today, more than 50 years after his offending began. The defendant will be on the Sex Offender Register for life.

Until his arrest, Mahoney had been living at Glen Road, Wishaw, Glasgow.

Defence lawyer Jeff Smith said that Mahoney knew the 'inevitable outcome' of the offending but the sentencing was delayed so background reports could assess the defendant’s medical needs before he was jailed.

Mr Smith told Judge Michael Fanning that Mahoney - appearing before the court via a video link from Durham Prison - would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

His primary mitigation were his guilty pleas, said the lawyer.

Mahoney was a 24-year-old man when the authorities got their first clue to his sexual deviance: he was given a conditional discharge for indecently assaulting a female.

A year later, he was given three years for manslaughter.

His “catalogue of abuse” – consisting of almost 560 individual offences - was finally uncovered in June 2020, when one of his victims contacted the police. Those crimes, the court heard, included at least:

• 255 rapes
• 203 indecent assaults
• And 100 acts of indecency with a child
• The youngest victim was just four or five, the court heard.

Judge Fanning told the defendant: “You are certainly the most prolific sexual offender I have encountered in my 32 years in the law. I will steer clear of hyperbole – but the sheer volume of your offending and the period over which it was committed says it all…

“Yours was not one-off youthful indiscretion, grown out of sexual curiosity of immaturity. You are, or were, a sexually driven deviant serial rapist.”

The judge also referred to the impact statements of victims, whose lives were ruined, lived as they were for decades under the lasting shadow of the abuse.

All his victims feared him.

“You remain a high risk of sexual and violent offending,” the judge told Mahoney. During his appearance before the crown court late last year, the defendant appeared via a video link from his home.

He was wearing his slippers, dressing gown and pyjamas.  At today's hearing, Mahoney claimed not to know what was happening. Judge Fanning imposed a determinate sentence of 31 years and six months but also included a two year extension period.

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A man who sexually assaulted a teenage girl in a hot tub is facing jail.

William Tierney, 52, seized hold of the 17-year-old in the garden of a property in Blantyre, Lanarkshire.

She repeatedly told him to let her go but he then subjected her to a sickening attack under the water. The terrified victim fled the scene and later confided to her mum what had happened.

This led to a confrontation with dad-of-four Tierney before police were called in. Tierney, of Blantyre, denied any wrongdoing and went on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court.

Jurors took less than an hour to convict him of the sexual assault in July last year. Giving tearful evidence to depute fiscal Scott O'Connor, the girl's mum told how her daughter, now 18, had been left traumatised by Tierney.

The 55-year-old said: "She was so scared and I asked her what was wrong.

"She was hysterical, crying uncontrollably and she was shaking and she told me Mr Tierney had assaulted her. What kind of a human being does that to a 17-year-old girl?

"I was numb and I was so upset and couldn't believe it had happened to her because she is my baby and I couldn't do anything to protect her."

Giving evidence, Tierney repeatedly denied assaulting the teenager and claimed they had been having a water fight in the hot tub.

He said: "I just lifted her up and was trying to find the bench bit of the hot tub where you sit to put my hand on.

"I thought she had left the hot tub because there was too much splashing, I had been a wee bit rough and was splashing the water constantly at her."

Sheriff Liam Murphy deferred sentence on the first offender until next month and continued bail. He added; "You have been found guilty of a serious sexual offence.

"You should be aware that all sentencing options will be open to the court including a custodial sentence given the nature of the offence."

Tierney was placed on the sex offenders' register.

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A teacher who had sex with a 15-year-old pupil in the back of her car has been pictured after walking free from court.

Siobhan McLean, 33, met the boy in her role as head of pupil support at the secondary school in Lanarkshire. She had been helping an unnamed family member apply for university courses as well as taking study classes that the boy attended. McLean, of Airdrie, Lanarkshire, then began contacting him on social media and they soon became engaged in dialogue.

The mother-of-one later arranged to meet the unnamed boy at a university union where they enjoyed a night out including drinking alcohol. But when they went back to a flat, McLean and the boy began kissing, which led to them having sex. Days later she arranged to see him again before they had sex in the back of her BMW in a secluded car park at Craignethan Castle near Blackwood, Lanarkshire.

The boy’s mother later became alarmed after hearing him saying “I love you” during a phone call. He claimed he was talking to a friend but his phone was confiscated and revealed intimate messages from McLean and police were called in. Following walking free from court she has now been pictured by the Daily Record at her plush home yesterday. Despite having just escaped jail, the former teacher seemed in high spirits and smiled as she answered the door. When she was asked to speak, McLean quickly slammed the door closed.

McLean appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted engaging in sexual activity with the boy in September last year. Sheriff Liam Murphy ordered her to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and put her under supervision for three years. McLean will be tagged for 12 months and is banned from having unsupervised contact with children other than her own. She was put on the sex offenders' register for 10 years and added to the list of those unsuitable to work with children. The sheriff also banned her from contacting the victim or his family members for five years.

Gary McAteer, defending, said: "The accused has self-destructed her life by acting in the way that she did. She has lost her career, her reputation and her standing and faces the possibility of being separated from her child and husband. This was two events over a period of days and her reaction to it was to be physically sick and she recognised how damaging this period has been."

Meanwhile, Sheriff Liam Murphy said: "You pled guilty to a serious offence involving a significant breach of trust. In the criminal justice social work report you were able to recognise the impact of this on the victim and his family. Taking into account all of the circumstances, I'm satisfied that there is an appropriate way to deal with you by way of an alternative to a custodial sentence but this should not detract from the gravity of your conduct."

Description

A rape survivor from Glasgow has told how she is living a life sentence of her own after a colleague was jailed for seven years for attacking her.

Sarah, who asked only to be identified by her first name, was raped by Edward Lochrie after leaving a works leaving party. The married 40-year-old sexually assaulted her after refusing to leave her home before trying to cover his tracks in a series of messages sent to the victim and her colleagues.

After Lochrie was jailed last week Sarah said she would remain traumatised for life, but urged other women to seek justice. She told the Daily Record: “Seven years isn’t the life sentence he has given me, but it’s a strong powerful second.

“The judge identified his behaviour as predatory, that he manipulated, that he has shown no empathy or remorse for his actions. To have the severity of what happened to me acknowledged goes some way to concluding this chapter.

“I can’t change what happened nor will I ever be able to forget but I can move forward knowing I did everything in my power to ensure truth prevailed. I urge victims of sexual assault to stand by their truth, trust the system and ensure you provide all you can when giving your statements.

“I just hope the last few years of my life, my journey, can give hope and strength to other survivors.”

Lochrie attacked his colleague on his leaving night out after she invited workmates back to her flat to call taxis in July 2021.

She said: “He was reasonably quiet and unassuming. He very much kept himself to himself. I never imagined he was a harmful person.

“At the end of the night he was the last person left and wouldn’t leave. I got very insistent and forceful and told him to get out.

“He intimated that he was going to leave, went to the door and pretended to put his shoes on and before I knew it he turned around again and raped me in my own home.”

The project manager then left Sarah's flat before trying to contact her via her work phone over the following days.

She said: “He didn’t have my personal number, but tried to reach me the next day via message on my work mobile, asking if I was still talking to him.

“The day after that he messaged again. As of the Monday he started trying to call me several times, which I still ignored. Then he started to reach out to other colleagues.

“He reached out to between five to 10 colleagues of ours to try and gauge information. He asked if there was any gossip going around about me and him.”

Traumatised, Sarah had sought help in the hours after her attack and found Archway, a specialist sexual assault referral centre based in Glasgow, and received support from Rape Crisis Scotland. She was able to attend the centre and have forensic testing done while she processed what had happened to her.

Lochrie was arrested weeks later. After more than two years he was found to have raped Sarah at a trail at the High Court in Glasgow.

Judge Lord Young jailed Lochrie for seven years at the High Court in Edinburgh last week.

Passing sentence, Lord Young said: “ While I accept that this rape was not pre-planned, it did involve predatory behaviour emerging once you realised that your victim lived alone and that you could manipulate the situation to be left alone with her.

“What is clear from the Criminal Justice Social Work Report is that you have shown no empathy for your victim and have no insight into your offending. You embarked on a process of victim blaming described...as a character assassination of your victim.”

Lochrie was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Description

A man who raped schoolgirl five months before she was sexually assaulted and murdered by her older brother has been jailed.

Jamie Starrs, 20, attacked the vulnerable Amber Gibson while she was asleep or unconscious at a property in Bothwell, South Lanarkshire, in June 2021.

The innocent 16-year-old was later sexually assaulted and killed by her brother Connor Gibson, 19, in November 2021 but a statement she gave to police before her death proved crucial in bringing her rapist to justice. 

Starrs denied any wrongdoing and went on trial at the High Court in Lanark. However, Jurors took two hours to convict him of raping Amber and also raping a second teenager just two weeks earlier.

Starrs was jailed for ten-and-a-half years and two years of supervision upon release. Sentencing the double rapist, who appeared via video link from custody, Judge Thomas Welsh said: 'You have been convicted of appalling crimes against two innocent teenage girls and you have been assessed as being of very high risk of sexual violence on release.

'I am required to take into account your age and difficult upbringing - however, the crimes remain serious and grave, and I will impose an extended sentence.'

He said that he would have ordered 11 years to be served in custody but reduced this to ten-and-a-half years behind bars to take into account the time that Starrs has spent on remand.

The 20-year-old was also found guilty of a breach of bail conditions, and of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He has been placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Giving a plea in mitigation, Michael Meehan KC, representing Starrs, highlighted that as he is under 25 the sentence must take into account sentencing guidelines which reflect that a younger person will have a lower level of maturity than an older person.

He said a report identified that Starrs shows 'cognitive and emotional immaturity'.

The lawyer had also urged the judge to consider his client's adverse childhood experiences when sentencing.

He told the court that Starrs was removed from parental care at the age of three and developed addiction issues from the age of nine. 

Mr Meehan said: 'He has a traumatic background from a young age which perhaps gives some degree of explanation.' 

Detective Constable Ross McCaig previously told the jury he had taken a statement from Amber after the sickening assault had been reported.

Her statement said: 'I was under the covers but when I went to get up I felt I didn't have clothes on my bottom half, my trousers were next to me on top of the covers.

'I saw that the guy Jamie was asleep in the bed with me, it was light enough to say that it was him. He then got up from under the covers and he was completely naked and he put on a red tracksuit and pulled out a blue windbreaker style jacket and I managed to put my trousers on underneath the covers. I told Jamie I was leaving.'

Later in a homeless unit in Blantyre, Amber became 'quiet' when discussion turned to a TikTok user being falsely accused of rape and she revealed it had 'happened to her'. A teenage boy told staff and police were called in before Amber told them she had been raped by Starrs.

She told officers: 'The reason I think I was raped was that I woke up in a bed with no clothes on my bottom half with a boy I had only met naked under the covers. I can't remember hugging him or kissing him at all.'

Commenting on the sentencing of Starrs, Detective Inspector Lorraine Wilson, of Lanarkshire division's rape investigation unit, said: 'Jamie Starrs subjected two women to violent sexual attacks and he is now facing the consequences of his despicable actions.

'The victims showed great strength in coming forward and reporting what happened to them. Despite one of the women having died before she was able to see justice being done, her evidence was key in securing his conviction.

'Our thoughts remain with the other victim in this case and I hope this sentence will bring her some comfort and closure.

The sentencing comes a fortnight after Connor Gibson, 20, was convicted of strangling his sister in woodland in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, in November 2021.

The predator had brought Amber to Cadzow Glen on the night of November 26, 2021, to carry out his brutal attack. 

He removed her clothes and assaulted her with the intent of raping the vulnerable teen, before strangling and beating her, and leaving her for dead in the woods.

Amber was reported missing on the evening of Friday, November 26 and her body was discovered in Cadzow Glen at about 10.10am on November 28.

But in a revolting twist of fate, her body was abused by the man who first found her, Stephen Corrigan. The 45-year-old was found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and breach of the peace by intimately touching and concealing Amber's body after discovering it, instead of contacting the emergency services.

The head of major crimes at Police Scotland said time should be spent remembering Amber Gibson rather than the two men who have been convicted.

Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Livingstone said: 'I'd like to actually give them as little thought as possible, to be honest with you.

'There's not any other words that spring to mind that I would describe them [as] other than depraved.

'I actually think that more time should be spent remembering Amber.' The senior officer said he hoped the convictions 'bring some degree of comfort' to the people who knew and cared for Amber.

He added: 'The actions of both Corrigan and Gibson leave them both beneath contempt.

'This was a challenging and complex investigation involving a range of specialist officers from within Police Scotland working closely with our partners in forensic services, all of whom I would pay tribute to for their professionalism and dedication whilst carrying out their work.'

Gibson will be sentenced on September 4 for a crime Judge Lord Mulholland described as 'depraved', while Corrigan will also be sentenced next month.

The day before Gibson was arrested on December 1, he posted a chilling tribute on Facebook to his sister, writing 'fly high' and 'I love you ginger midget'. 

'Amber, you will fly high for the rest of time. We will all miss you. Especially me. I love you ginger midget. GBFN (goodbye for now) X,' wrote Gibson. 

Gibson will be sentenced on September 4 for a crime Judge Lord Mulholland described as 'depraved', while Corrigan will also be sentenced next month. 

Meanwhile, Gibson's dad, Peter Gibson, was jailed for raping a woman back in April, before his son was found guilty. Reporting of the father's case was delayed until the end of his son's murder trial.

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A victim of a paedophile bus driver who abused three children has spoken of her relief after he was finally convicted two decades on.

Naomi Gibson bravely spoke out to police when she was assaulted by predator Craig Wallace in a van during a family trip to the football when she was just 11.

But there was not enough evidence to convict the fiend at the time and he went on to rape two other youngsters.

Now 31, mum-of two Naomi says she is haunted by the fact her abuser was not stopped from harming others and is waiving her right to anonymity in a bid to help other victims find the courage to come forward.

She told the Record: “I was the first. I was the test subject for him and the fact this continued so long and he was free for a 20 year period is heartbreaking.

“I just feel so sorry for the other girls. If only I was listened to I might have been able to save them from this.

“But I hope other victims of abuse will be encouraged to know that you are strong enough and you can get justice, even after so long.”

Jurors convicted Wallace, now 41, of abusing three children over a period of 15 years at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday.

He had denied the three charges during trial but was convicted of lewd and libidinous conduct towards Naomi in her dad's van in Hamilton, Lanarkshire.

Wallace was further found guilty of raping a second girl at a house in the town.

He was finally convicted of the sexual assault, attempted rape and rape of a final child in Douglas, Lanarkshire.

Prosecutors stated the charges - all with unanimous verdicts - spanned between 2003 and 2018.

Wallace was a close friend of Naomi’s dad and known to her before the attack as ‘uncle Craig’.

He would accompany the family on trips to watch youth football matches at Hamilton Palace grounds and, in 2003, he took his chance when alone in Naomi’s dad’s van to subject her to 45 minutes of terror.

After asking her inappropriate questions, Wallace asked to see a scar on her chest before sexually assaulting her.

Brazen Wallace continued to stroke her thigh on the way home with Naomi’s dad sitting just inches away in the van.

Naomi, of Strathaven, South Lanarkshire, said: “People of his nature tend to have a fear factor about what they’re doing. He doesn’t have that.

“If you walked past him in the street you would probably smile at him because he has a very trusting face but if you take that extra five minutes to actually look into his eyes you can see he’s sheer evil.

“He told me it was just our secret but as soon as I went home I told my mum everything that happened.

“My mum and Dad spoke and asked me what I wanted to do and we went to the police. I spoke to them a few days later.

“The police were amazing. I still remember the police officer who went above and beyond for me and was absolutely amazing, but there wasn’t enough evidence. They needed more.

“He was a bus driver, which is so scary because you get the kids on the buses coming home from school and young women coming back from nights out.”

Naomi says her family was targeted and intimidated by supporters of Wallace in the year that followed and their property vandalised.

They were even moved to a safe house by police.

Wallace, of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, had been on bail for the duration of his trial.

Adjourning sentencing until next month, judge Lord Armstrong told him: “You will be detained in custody meantime.”

Wallace was put on the sex offenders list.

Naomi said: “It was a long time coming. I don’t even think it has sunk in properly yet that he is finally behind bars.

“It is very freeing to know it’s over after all this time. I feel lucky really that what happened to me didn’t develop any further but heartbroken that he has gone on to progress his offending with the other girls.

“If he gets out I believe he is going to do this again and again."

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A pervert who sent indecent pictures of himself to paedophile hunters has been jailed for 18 months.

Neil Peters, 64, believed he was talking to girls aged 13 and 14 after being fooled by decoys from groups called Dank Dragons and Improved Maximum Exposure.

He started up conversations on a dating site but turned the chat towards sex.

Shamed Peters told one girl called 'Tia' he would 'marry her in a heartbeat' and be 'honoured' to be her boyfriend despite being repeatedly told she was 13.

He sent her indecent photos but warned they should keep the sordid chat secret or they would both 'get into trouble'.

Peters told the other girl called 'Lucy' she was 'gorgeous' and demanded topless photos.

He then arranged to meet but was confronted by vigilantes who streamed it on Facebook.

Peters, of Larkhall, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted communicating indecently with both girls in August last year.

He also pled guilty to attempting to meet one to engage in sexual activity.

Sheriff John Speir jailed first offender Peters and placed him on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Depute fiscal Chloe O'Hara said: "The accused messaged Lucy and asked if she lived near to Morrisons in Anniesland as he would visit her.

"Lucy told the accused she would be at Morrisons in her school uniform and he said he would meet her outside and asked if she could wear stockings instead of tights as he preferred them.

"The accused said he would come in a white Audi and she was to wait for him outside Morrisons.

"The witness along with other members of the group attended at Morrisons the following day and they pulled up to the accused's car and contacted the police.

"Whilst awaiting police arrival, the group broadcast a live stream of the sting on Facebook."

Sheriff Speir told Peters a custodial sentence was 'inevitable'.

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Victims of a bed-hopping sexual predator who walked free after targeting five women have spoken of their horror.

Steven Puttock crept into two of his victims’ bedrooms and assaulted them while they slept as he carried out a series of vile sex attacks over a 14-month period.

But last week a sheriff told the 25-year-old, from Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire, that jailing him wouldn’t help him or his victims.

He was instead sentenced to a “top-end community disposal” and ordered to pay each of the women £500 compensation.

One victim, who was assaulted in her own home after Puttock crept into her bed, told the Record: “We’re the victims, not him.

“To pay us £500 for what he has done to us all doesn’t cut it.

“He’s free to get on with his life but we’re going to be affected by this for the rest of ours.”

The electrician admitted assaulting the five women at houses in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth between January 2020 and March the following year, with one victim being targeted on three occasions and another twice.

Airdire Sheriff Court heard they were all considered friends and “like family” to him.

Puttock had a girlfriend at the time and apologised via text and Facebook messages to two of the women, using exactly the same words to both.

Sheriff Joseph Hughes said the pervert told a psychologist his offending “would likely have escalated to a more serious level” if he had continued down the same path.

He was assessed as at a medium risk of re-offending, but the sheriff told the first offender: “A custodial sentence will not in itself assist you in addressing your offending.

“Sentencing you to a modest period in prison will not help either the victims or society at large.”

Puttock was sentenced to three years of supervision, 300 hours unpaid work and a 12-month electronic tagging order .

Five-year non-harassment orders were made for each victim and his name will be on the sex offenders’ register for the same period.

One victim, who was groped in her bed in January 2020, said: “He thought he could randomly sneak into other people’s beds and cause this massive impact on their lives and he gets community service?

“I moved house after this. I kept having nightmares thinking people were in my room.

“Why is he allowed to be in the community when he is a danger to the community?

“Litter picking and painting fences? How is that going to stop him from reoffending?

“I don’t see how he’s not going to be a danger to women after this? I don’t care about his money.”

Another victim told how Puttock was like “a brother” to her when he crept into her bed and put his hands inside her clothing in November 2020.

She said: “He knew exactly what he was doing and his intentions.

“It happened so quickly. The next day I was distraught. I knew if I told my mum and dad they would erupt.”

The victim said she didn’t go to police until a year later because she was worried about the impact on her family.

She said: “I could barely cope. I would check car parks to make sure his car wasn’t there.

“He then messaged me and said he was sorry for everything he had done.

“This sentence makes us think ‘is that it?’ You would have expected more for five victims.

“I only hope this will change how he treats women in the future because I don’t want anyone else to go through this.”

A third victim told how brazen Puttock put his hand down her trousers on two occasions in a room full of her family and friends in October 2020.

She said: “It made me feel sick to the pit of my stomach. He’s just a horrible, horrible human. I can’t explain the anger.

“He thought he got away with it the first time so could do it again.”

Defence agent Ross Brown said Puttock had been abusing alcohol and cocaine at the time of the offences.

He said Puttock was in “highly-skilled employment” and had found a new relationship.

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A trade union boss who was convicted of a series of sexual assaults on a woman dodged a jail sentence today. A court heard that Unison regional organiser Gerry Crawley was wearing a dress and French knickers when he performed a sex act in front of the shocked woman

He squeezed the same woman's bottom as they chatted with football fans in a packed bar ahead of the Scottish Cup final. Married Crawley, 60, whose union duties involve representing police and fire service workers, was found guilty of sexually assaulting the woman on various occasions between January 2016 and July 2018.

Sheriff Thomas Millar also convicted him of performing a sex act in front of the woman at her home in 2018. After studying background reports, the sheriff put him under social work supervision for 12 months.

He will be on the sex offenders’ register for the same period. Crawley, a former Labour councillor, of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, had denied both charges.

Describing the incident at her home, the woman, now aged 37, said Crawley visited when she was alone. She told Hamilton Sheriff Court: "He asked to see my pants. I was wearing leggings and he said he would show me his pants instead.

"He had white French knickers on. They were laced and partially see through. "He asked if I would touch them and I said no. He asked again and I touched the side of them, hoping he would then go."

But, the woman said, Crawley didn't leave and instead carried out a sex act, leaving her "shocked, frightened and panicked". She told prosecutor John Coogan: "I was standing against the banister in the hall. I couldn't go anywhere.

"Then he went to the toilet before leaving quite quickly." Asked if she reported the incident at the time, the woman replied: "No. I thought it was something I could compartmentalise, put in a box and not think about."

The woman also told of an incident in a bar in Battlefield, Glasgow, on the day of the Celtic-Aberdeen Scottish Cup final in 2017. She said: "Gerry had tickets and we went for a drink before walking to Hampden.

"The bar was very busy with Aberdeen fans. Gerry put his hand down the back of my pants. "I was talking to an Aberdeen fan. I think I asked Gerry to stop but it must have gone on for five minutes or so.

"He was touching and squeezing my bottom. I was shocked because it was a public place." The woman also alleged during her evidence that Crawley acted inappropriately towards her on two other occasions, once in a house and once in a taxi.

The woman claimed Crawley touched her private parts while in a taxi with other passengers including her husband, and later texted her to ask if she had liked it. She told the court the incident had left her feeling “dirty and embarrassed”.

Questioned by defence advocate Patricia Bailey, the witness denied having a romantic relationship with Crawley in which she was the “dominant” partner. She rejected a defence suggestion that they had an arrangement where Crawley would visit her home regularly to clean while wearing women’s clothing.

The woman said: “It happened once. I thought it would be a useful outlet for him. Mostly he just wanted to talk about pants.” Ms Bailey also put it to the witness that she and Crawley would touch each other’s pants and private parts, and this was consensual behaviour.

She replied: “No. That’s absolutely wrong.” Giving evidence, Crawley insisted none of the assaults happened.

He said: "We had a relationship involving consensual touching etc etc. I would touch her underwear and her bottom."It was always after I had been round at her house cleaning. I would be dressed up in ladies' clothing. It happened on dozens of occasions."

Crawley claimed he had asked the woman's permission before putting his hand inside her jeans in the pub on the day of the cup final. But the court also heard from Crawley's daughter that he had confessed to having an "inappropriate" relationship with the woman.

Finding him guilty, Sheriff Millar said it appeared the woman had "accommodated your interests" to a certain extent. But the sheriff added: "She said she was not comfortable and I accept there were other incidents that went beyond what she was prepared to consent to."