Latest Offenders Lanarkshire

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Conviction in the Murder of Emma Caldwell

A 51-year-old man, Iain Packer, has been found guilty of murdering 27-year-old Emma Caldwell in 2005 and hiding her body. He was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday, February 28, 2024.

Emma was last seen on CCTV around 11 p.m. on Monday, April 4, 2005, walking alone on Butterbiggins Road towards Victoria Road on the south side of Glasgow. She was reported missing by her family on Monday, April 11, 2005. Her body was discovered in Limefield Woods, near Biggar, on Sunday, May 8, 2005.

In addition to the murder conviction, Packer was found guilty of numerous charges involving violent and sexual crimes against several women over many years.

He was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to serve a minimum of 36 years behind bars.

Statement from Assistant Chief Constable Bex Smith

“Emma Caldwell, her family and many other victims, were let down by policing in 2005. For that we are sorry.  

“A significant number of women and girls who showed remarkable courage to speak up at that time also did not get the justice and support they needed and deserved from Strathclyde Police.  

“Police Scotland launched a re-investigation of the case in 2015 after instruction from the Lord Advocate.  

“It is clear that further investigations should have been carried out into Emma’s murder following the initial enquiry in 2005.  

“The lack of investigation until 2015 caused unnecessary distress to her family and all those women who had come forward to report sexual violence.  

“It is the courage, resilience and determination shown by Emma’s family, in particular her parents William and Margaret, and all those who survived Iain Packer’s horrific catalogue of offending that got us to where we are today.  

“William is, sadly, no longer here to see this day, but I hope this verdict gives Margaret and all those affected by this case, the justice they deserve.  

“This was an extremely challenging re-investigation and without doubt the largest police enquiry of recent times in Scotland.  

“Over seven years, a full review of the original enquiry by Strathclyde Police in 2005 was completed.  

“More than 30,000 documents and statements were gathered and reviewed along with in excess of 23,000 productions. New forensic tests were carried out and new witnesses were identified and interviewed, leading to the convictions today.

“As part of the re-investigation a report was also sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in relation to the Strathclyde Police investigation.

“Iain Packer was a calculating sexual predator who targeted women over many years. It is hard to comprehend how anyone could carry out such despicable, ruthless acts.  

“He took Emma’s life for his own gratification in the most appalling circumstances and cruelly left her body in remote woods hoping to cover his tracks.  

“But time is no barrier to justice and I would urge anyone who has been the victim of sexual violence to please come forward and speak to us.  

“You will be listened to and you will be supported – no matter when the offences took place.  

“We have reflected and learnt from the initial investigation and subsequent re –investigation.  Significant changes have been made in recent years to improve our organisational culture and our response, particularly in respect of investigative structures, victim care and processes to these types of crimes.  

“Our Violence against Women and Girls Strategy demonstrates our absolute commitment to tackling the violence and abuse that disproportionately affects women and girls.

“What shone through to the enquiry team throughout the investigations into Emma’s life was her gentle personality, and I want to finish by saying that our thoughts remain with Emma, her family and all those affected by this terrible case.”

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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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The family of a youngster who was sexually abused at a holiday park have told of their horror after learning her attacker was on bail for an identical crime at the time.

Police were already hunting for Bryan Shields when he struck again.

Shields, of Lanark, appeared at Airdrie Sheriff Court in April where he admitted molesting the five-year-old on four occasions over a three-day period in September last year.

The abuse happened in a caravan at Southerness Holiday Park, near Dumfries, where the girl was staying with her gran.

Last week Shields, 45, was jailed for four-and-a-half years. The victims family members who watched him being sentenced said they were outraged he had been free to target the girl while due to stand trial for abusing the other youngster.

In court, Shields also admitted sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl on three occasions at a house in Cumbernauld in June 2019. He was on bail for an unrelated matter when he carried out the first sex assault.

Despite that, he was again freed pending trial, but failed to turn up at court three times in July 2021, February 2022 and August last year. A warrant for his arrest was outstanding when he sexually assaulted the second victim.

After Shields was jailed, a relative of the girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said: Its outrageous. We werent aware of the 2019 sexual assault. If he had been jailed earlier for that, the second assault might never have happened.

I was so angry when I heard this in court. I had to hold myself back because I wanted to punch Shields. That poor wee girl has to live with what he did to her for the rest of her life.

The court heard Shields had befriended the girls gran in Lanark but turned up out of the blue at the holiday park. He told them he was planning to buy a caravan himself but in the meantime was camping on the beach.

The relative said: The girls gran was hoodwinked by him. She is the sort of person who would give you her last penny and she let him stay in the caravan because she felt sorry for him lying in a tent on the beach. It was an act of kindness.

The relative said: It was only later that the girl told her mother what Shields had done to her and the police were contacted.

Sheriff Paul Haran told Shields he would have been jailed for six years but for his guilty pleas. The sentence was backdated to October 3 last year.

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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."

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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.

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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."

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A former security guard who raped three women has been jailed for eight years.

Dane O’Neill preyed on his victims including taking advantage of one while she was asleep in a hotel room.

The 22 year-old was also controlling and physically violent.

Jurors heard how a victim was told to cover with make up the horrible bruises he had inflicted.

O’Neill was today sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.

He was earlier convicted of a total of 11 charges including seven counts of rape.

The crimes were committed between 2017 and 2021 mainly at different addresses in East Kilbride.

Lord Clark remarked O’Neill had tried to “blame” the victims for the more serious crimes.

The judge stated: “As has been made clear, you have not accepted that you committed any of the sexual offences.”

He added due to the “repeated nature” of what happened and O’Neill’s “lack of remorse” he presented a “high risk” of similar behaviour.

O’Neill will then be supervised for a further two years on his release.

Lord Clark imposed indefinite non-harassment orders banning him from approaching or contacting the women for an indefinite period.

O’Neill gave evidence during the trial and was quizzed by his lawyer Frances Connor.

She asked about the night he spent with one victim at a hotel in Glasgow in September 2020.

O’Neill said they returned there after dinner and drinks.

Prosecutors stated it was there he preyed on the woman while she was sleeping and, after she awoke, slapped his hand over her mouth and continued to force himself on her.

Miss Connor asked O’Neill: “Was there any sexual contact in the hotel room?”

He replied: “No.”

The defence advocate: “How did she seem in the morning?”

O’Neill: “Tired, but upbeat.”

O’Neill had previously assaulted this woman, accused her of cheating and used her bank card without her knowing. He also kept tabs on her social media.

The other two victims were also raped as well as being abused both physically and verbally.

A charge stated O’Neill did “instruct” one of them to “apply make up to her body to conceal bruising” caused by him.

Miss Connor told the sentencing hearing: “He has a family ready and waiting to support him.”

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A cross dressing engineer who left two women terrified after he was caught exposing a pair of fake breasts has been ordered to pay £1,500 compensation. Scott Mathieson, 52, prowled the streets of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, under the cover of darkness dressed in women's clothing.

He repeatedly targeted a 73-year-old who spotted him on doorbell camera footage walking up to her front door and trying the handle. Mathiesonreturned weeks later and 'suggestively' flashed his chest and rubbed a breast with one hand.

He then shook breasts before walking away. The pervert made a third visit where he was seen on camera peering in his victim's bedroom window and police were contacted but he could not be traced.

it emerged he had targeted a 92-year-old woman by opening his jacket and exposing the artificial breasts. Police snared Mathieson weeks later after spotting him wearing a female body suit, dark wig and glasses.

Mathieson, of Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted a charge of stalking and another of threatening or abusive behaviour between June and September last year. The court heard he had a lifelong interest in women's clothing and attends LGBTQ clubs to indulge in his fantasies.

He claims it helps him express himself but he still identifies as male and did not believe he was being watched by his victims. Depute fiscal Rebecca Clark said: "The complainers are both vulnerable women and he was trying the door handle of one of their properties.

"The conduct involved him cupping, rubbing and shaping the artificial breasts with his hand. From looking at them, they are not a genuine representation given that they are large with nipples protruding. This offence does involve some sort of deviance."

Gregor Jarrott, defending, said: "He totally accepts his conduct in respect of both charges and is aware his conduct would have caused a reasonable person fear or alarm. He first became interested in female clothing at the age of five which progressed and he now attends LGBTQ clubs where he dresses as a woman.

"There have been long standing identity issues but he does identify as a man and finds this is a way to express himself. There has been no breach of trust between parties and at no stage was there any contact between them and, as far as he is concerned, nothing was said between them.

"He didn't know or think anyone was watching and he was deliberately doing this walking about at a time of night when he didn't think anyone would be about and it is his position that this is a private matter and an expression of himself."

Sheriff Louise Gallacher put him under supervision for two years as a direct alternative to custody. He was put on the sex offenders' register for the same period after it was ruled there was a 'significant' sexual aspect to his actions. Mathieson was ordered to pay £1000 to his first victim and £500 to the second.

Sheriff Gallacher told him: "This is a very serious offence committed over a three-month period where you exposed two elderly and vulnerable females to behaviour which caused them considerable fear and alarm and for one it has caused an adverse impact on her mental wellbeing.

"I have no hesitation in concluding this was done for your sexual gratification and that your behaviour indicates an underlying deviance from which society is entitled to be protected."

Prosecutors accepted a not guilty plea to a third charge which alleged Mathieson had caused an 67-year-old woman fear or alarm at her home in East Kilbride and looking in her windows in July last year.

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Kriss Strachan, now 25, was jailed for a further two years for his "aggressive and abusive" conduct and slapped with a 20 year legal ban on contacting or approaching his victim.

A jailed violent sex offender stalked a woman he'd known briefly in his distant past, "obsessing", researching her, writing her love notes from behind bars, and trying to control her life, all while serving a 12-year sentence for raping a 91-year-old.

Kriss Strachan, now 25, was jailed for a further two years for his "aggressive and abusive" conduct and slapped with a 20 year legal ban on contacting or approaching his victim. Strachan met his victim when they were both 16 - at a concert in 2013.

Falkirk Sheriff Court was told on Wednesday, December 14, that they kept in touch for few months, and met just once at her home, whereupon she told him she "did not want to pursue a relationship". The following year Strachan, then 17, committed what a judge called his "cruel and degrading" attack on the 91-year-old, forcing his way into her house in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, pushing her over, threatening to kill her, punching her repeatedly round the head, compressing her neck, removing her clothing, raping her, and infecting her with a sexually transmitted disease.

Then in 2017, two years into his sentence and despite her not having heard from him for three years, the stalking victim suddenly received a letter from Strachan, then in Polmont Young Offenders' Institution, Stirlingshire, later declaring his "love". She replied she was "not interested", the court was told.

Then in November 2018, she found a 15-second voice message from Strachan on her phone. It said: "What's this [I] am hearing about you're engaged to a fucking 40-year-old black guy?

"What's that a' about? You could have f***ing let us know before I was writing letters to you, ya steamer."

In a further message in 2019, he revealed he knew what kind of van her fiance drove and where he lived, and sent her three letters in 2020 - finally saying he was going to be released on a tag and would be "coming to see her" once he was out of jail.

The court heard the victim, now 25, was driven to take an overdose, but confided in her mother and her new partner. Her mother contacted Glenochil Prison, Clackmannanshire, where Strachan had been moved since becoming an adult prisoner, and the prison said they would block his phone.

However the calls and texts continued. Police were called in, and he was arrested and charged.

Appearing by video link from Barlinnie Prison, Strachan, of Bellshill, admitted stalking the woman, now also 25, for more than two years, from November 2018 to February last year (2021) while inside the two Scottish jails -- Polmont and Glenochil. Stephen Biggam, defending, said Strachan was "remorseful".

He said: "Knowing he was within touching distance of being released, he has managed to extend his incarceration by his own stupidity."

Imposing the extra jail tine and the 20-year non harassment order, Sheriff Craig Harries told Strachan that he had been "well aware" the victim did not want to hear from him. He said: "You began to contact the complainer once you were in custody. She made it clear to you by letter and telephone that she did not want contact from you.

"You were well aware from what she said, and her lack of response, that she did not want contact, but over the course of 27 months, you continued. In one of your later letters you even acknowledged she was ignoring your correspondence.

"The contacted contained abusive harassment of her. You aggressively challenged her about her being engaged.

"You provided knowledge about her personal life that you could only have discovered while within the prison. That is a particularly concerning aspect of the case and it shows the obsession that you had.

"In what would always be perceived by her as a threat, you stated you'd be coming to see her on your release. You continued to contact her by phone and letter professing love for her.

"You were, as both the legislation and common sense shows, stalking her. You caused her significant harm, her mental health suffered, she required medical assistance, and she was physically sick with worry.

"You tried to exert control over her life. The offence is significant aggravated by your previous conviction for a brutal sexual offence, and by your committing it from with the confines of prison, where she was entitled to have felt safe from you."

He added that a background report deemed Strachan to pose "a significant risk, particularly to females". Scottish Ministers may also order he should now serve a seven year extension that judge Lord Boyd imposed when he jailed him in 2015.

The judge said the rape had a "truly appalling" impact on the old lady involved. Strachan told police at the time: "I cannot believe I done it. I am scum."