Latest Offenders West Lothian

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Alexander Thomson, 42, subjected his victims to a catalogue of barbaric abuse across a seven year period in West Lothian between 2012 and 2019. A serial Scots rapist who reigned terror on four women may never be freed from prison and will be monitored for the rest of his life. Alexander Thomson, 42, subjected his victims to a catalogue of barbaric abuse across a seven year period in West Lothian between 2012 and 2019. His crimes included rape, knocking the teeth from one of his victims and burning her body with cigarettes. Another awoke to find Thomson had placed a plastic bag over her head to restrict her breathing. Thomson stood before the High Court in Glasgow today, convicted of 17 charges involving the abuse of four former partners including charges of assault, abduction and 10 counts of rape. Two victims who suffered at the hands of Thomson sadly died before he faced trial. Their evidence was heard with statements read by one of the investigating officers in the case, which contributed to Thomson being found guilty. He was handed an Order of Lifelong Restriction and sentenced to a minimum of four years in prison before he is eligible for parole. He was further given a lifetime Non Harassment Order, preventing him approaching or contacting his victims. Scotlands head Procurator Fiscal for High Court Sexual Offences, Fraser Gibson, said: Alexander Thomsons offending brutalised and bullied women who trusted him. He betrayed their trust in the most despicable manner. It is extremely sad that two of his victims did not live to see Thomson brought to justice. "We are grateful for the evidence they provided in their determination that he be held to account and to the other two women who bravely spoke out. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is committed to the rigorous pursuit of justice. Our prosecutors will utilise all evidence available in this process. We would urge any victim or witness of similar offending to come forward, report it and seek help. Earlier, we told how the officer reading testimonies from the two victims who had sadly passed away said they had deserved to have their voices heard from beyond the grave. Detective Sergeant Aisling Corduff, who read their statements from the witness box, told the Record: " It is not something that happens very often but I believe it had a huge impact on the case. They couldnt speak but I had sat and listened to them and I knew their voices. I formed relationships with these women, spent hours with them. Bernie Laing, 30, died in July 2020, before Thomsons trial and her mum Margaret blames him for her death. DS Corduff said: I felt proud to be reading their words aloud for them because I knew how much it meant to them and to Bernies mother. I felt like they deserved to be heard. Thomson was arrested for his heinous crimes on December 12, 2019.

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Myles Allan, 44, snapped two images and two video clips of the womans thighs while she sat at her desk in an office in West Lothian.

Allan - who had a short stint in charge of Berwick Rangers - claimed he had taken the pictures accidentally by brushing his hand against his phone in July 2019.

But he was found guilty of a voyeurism charge following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this year and sentence had been deferred

Allan, from Dunfermline, returned to the dock to hear Sheriff Graham Primrose QC state that he had committed a serious offence within the workplace.

The sheriff said: You were found guilty after trial of the offence of voyeurism.

I noted during the trial the complainer herself stated she did not consider there to be a sexual element to the offence.

Instead she considered against the background of you being reprimanded about your performance that day that the taking of the images were designed to humiliate her rather than to provide you with sexual gratification

Allan was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and a supervision order for nine months and also ordered to pay his victim 400 in compensation.

Allan started his football management career at Burntisland Shipyard and Dundonald before moving on to Sauchie and Rosyth Juniors.

He then joined Berwick Rangers as a first team scout in 2016 and was later promoted to first team coach.

After leaving the Shielfield Park outfit Allan, a married father-of-two, was appointed to the coaching staff team at Jeanfield Swifts womens team in March 2019.

During the trial, the football coach admitted taking the pictures following an argument between him and his boss but said he had immediately deleted them.

He was caught out after copies of the images were uploaded from his phone to his work laptop through the iCloud function.

He was then sacked from the firm soon after and after handing back his computer equipment a ex-colleague subsequently found the images stored within a folder on the laptop.

Allans former manager, who cannot be identified, told the court she was made aware of the images and had felt disgusted and humiliated on viewing them.

She said: They [the images] were taken of the top of my thighs when I was wearing a dress. My legs are under my desk and showing my underwear.

When my colleague showed me I was shocked and I was in disbelief it was there. I felt disgusted, humiliated and very angry.

How could he think it was as acceptable to do that? I felt physically sick at what I should do.

I trusted him and I felt betrayed.

After contacting her husband the woman called in the police and Allan was subsequently arrested and charged.

Allan was found guilty of operating equipment beneath the clothing of a woman with the intention or enabling himself or others to observe her genitals, buttocks or underwear and did position a mobile phone and take two photos and two videos showing the legs and underwear of the woman at a premises in West Lothian on July 16, 2019.

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A mental health nurse who sexually assaulted a vulnerable patient while working at a psychiatric hospital has been spared a jail sentence.

Richard McLellan attacked the woman while she was being treated for a mental disorder at the capital’s Royal Edinburgh Hospital in 2019.

McLellan, 38, was found to have engaged in sexual activity with the woman by placing his hand underneath her underwear while he worked a nightshift at the city hospital.

McLellan denied the allegations against him but was found guilty by a jury following a three day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

The jury found McLellan not guilty of charges including making sexual comments to the woman, touching her genitals and inducing the woman to perform oral sex on him.

The disgraced staff nurse has since been sacked from NHS Lothian and he is due to appear in front of a Nursing and Midwifery Council disciplinary panel in the near future.

A spokesperson for NHS Lothian said they wanted to “extend our full sympathies to the victim in this distressing case”.

McLellan returned to the dock for sentencing on Friday where Sheriff Donald Corke told him he had been “convicted by the jury of an offence of sexual breach of trust of a mental disordered person”.

The sheriff said: “This behaviour was a gross breach of trust by you. You were the complainer’s key worker and you were tasked that night to keep her safe.

“Instead you took the opportunity to engage in sexual activity. You have expressed no remorse for what you did.

“You should be in no doubt custody is an option. [However] I am willing to impose a community payback order as a direct alternative to custody.”

McLellan, from Bathgate, West Lothian, was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for three years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community.

He was placed under the supervision of the social work department for three years and handed a conduct requirement that bans him from contacting the victim.

His name will also be forwarded to Scottish Ministers for inclusion on the list of those banned from working with children or vulnerable people in the future.

Defending Advocate Mr Kennedy said his client continues to deny the offence but is “accepting of the jury’s decision”.

He added: “The consequences of this conviction for Mr McLellan are both personally and professionally devastating.

“He has been dismissed from his employment and he will be sanctioned from his professional body where he will submit to further humiliation and disgrace by that.”

Tracey McKigen, Services Director for the Royal Edinburgh and Associated Services at NHS Lothian, said: “We extend our full sympathies to the victim in this distressing case.

“Whilst we can’t comment on individual members of staff, current or former, we want to offer reassurance that as soon as we become aware of a serious criminal allegation, we will take immediate and robust action in the interests of patient safety, which is always our top priority.”

McLellan was found guilty of being a person who provided care services to a mental disordered person and did engage in sexual activity with them and did place his hand underneath her underwear at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital on January 21, 2019.

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A SCOTS Scoutmaster who had a secret 10-month sexual relationship with a schoolgirl has avoided a jail sentence.

Paedophile Lewis Ala Findlay, who led a troop in the Scouts, was 23 years old at the time and his victim was just 15.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that the girl, who had known Findlay since she was 12, had initially thought his interest in her was "one of support".

But in November, 2018, at his home in Bo'ness, West Lothian, while his girlfriend was abroad and his mother was also away leaving them alone in the house together, the Scout leader made advances as they sat on his bed watching a film - telling her "just let it happen".

Prosecutor Alex Kirk said the girl was hesitant and uncomfortable, but agreed to sex "as she didn't want it to be awkward".

The following month he had full sex with her again, this time in his car parked in a layby, and the situation developed to the point where the girl thought they were "seeing each other".

The court heard they had sex "a couple of times a month" in Findlay's car parked in laybys on back roads in Stirlingshire and West Lothian.

In early 2019 the girl confided in another adult about what had been going on, and he encouraged her to report the matter.

After she refused, he reported the matter himself and Findlay was afterwards suspended by the Scouting Association.

However the girl denied everything when interviewed by police and social workers.

After a break of a couple of weeks the incidents resumed, but around the end of August Findlay started buying the girl lingerie and sending her pictures of it.

The court heard that on one occasion she dressed up in lingerie, which she had not wanted to do but when she said "no" Findlay asked her repeatedly and she eventually agreed.

Mrs Kirk said: "This incident made her realise how much older the accused was."

She ended the relationship and blocked Findlay on Snapchat, but he continued to contact her using texts and Facebook Messenger, which "alarmed" her.

One "lengthy" message concluded with "a list of 50 things he stated he loved about her".

Mrs Kirk said that by then the girl was "stressed and didn't know what to do".

In November 2019, scout leaders were "made aware" of the messaging and concluded that a sexual relationship was going on.

Police were again called in, and in February last year Findlay was charged.

Now 24, Amazon worker Findlay, of Bo'ness, pleaded guilty to stalking the girl and having unlawful sexual intercourse.

Advocate Niall McCluskey, defending, said Findlay had "craved" the girl.

He said: "He describes how he fell for the complainer, and he accepts he should not have acted on his attraction to her."

"He fully acknowledges that as the adult he ought to have know better, and regrets that he didn't act appropriately when he realised he was developing cravings for her."

He said Findlay was due to become a father in October, following "a longstanding relationship with his partner".

He produced a reference from a youth leader, stating that since 2015 Findlay "had begun volunteering on major national projects" and was "steadfast and true".

Mr McCluskey said: "I understand he was involved in a project called Heart and Soul, which involved the National Youth Assembly, linked to the Church of Scotland."

Sheriff Simon Collins QC sentenced Findlay to 300 hours of unpaid work, placed him under social work supervision and on the sex offenders' register for three years, ordered him to take part in the Scottish Government's "Moving Forward, Making Changes" programme for sex offenders if directed, and banned him from having any unsupervised contact with children under 16.

He said the offences had been "an abuse" of Findlay's "position of relative seniority" in the Scout Association.

Sheriff Collins said: "Although unlawful because of your respective ages it is not suggested the complainer did not consent to the sexual activity. I have seriously considered whether the public interest requires that you be given a prison sentence."

"With some hesitation, I am satisfied that it does not, and that there is a proper community-based alternative."

Findlay, who had arrived at court with a bag packed for jail, refused to comment to a reporter as he walked free from the building.

A spokesman for the Scouts said: "The Scout Association is aware of recent court proceedings involving Lewis Findlay

"The Scout Safeguarding Team worked in conjunction with statutory agencies to share relevant information and Findlay was suspended from his role with the Movement in December 2019 when concerns about his behaviour came to light.

"We can confirm that he will never volunteer with us again.

"The safety of all our members is our number one priority. It is at the heart of our decision-making.

"We carry out stringent vetting of all adults who work with young people and work together with statutory agencies and other parties to share relevant information to ensure the safeguarding of young people in Scouting.

"We require everyone at Scouts to work to a strict code outlined in the 'Young People First' Code of Practice."

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A woman who made a home video showing her 'engaging in sexual activity with a dog and was caught with a horde of child abuse images has escaped jail.

Suzie Cairns – who admitted having pornographic pictures of children being sexually abused – insisted the extent of the apparent sex session with her Golden Labrador had been “exaggerated”.

She said: “There was no intercourse with the dog, and that is what was implied. What’s said is that I had sex with the dog and I didn’t.”

Cairns, 39, was speaking after being sentenced at Livingston Sheriff Court on Friday.

She also pled guilty to possessing “extreme pornographic images depicting in an explicit way a female engaging in sexual activity with a dog”.

She was placed under social work supervision for three years under a community payback order as a direct alternative to a prison sentence.

She was also told her name would remain on the sex offenders’ register for three years with strict conditions about access to children under 16 and internet capable devices.

She will have to attend appointments with her supervising officer as and when required to promote her rehabilitation and work on “attitudes and other risk factors” behind her offending.

Neil Stewart, defending, said the background report on his client was very positive, she had no previous convictions and she showed insight into her offending.

He said: “She now has the ignominy of having a conviction like this to her name.

“She’s also subject to the notification requirements under the sex offenders’ regiser and, if I can put it this way, she’s also been subject to the court of the public in respect of reporting of it in the press.

“She’s afraid to leave her home that’s causing her distress, but she accepts she’s put herself in that situation. I’m not trying to excuse her actions.”

Passing sentence, Sheriff Martin Edington told Cairns: “Your solicitor has made it vey clear how ashamed and embarrassed and remorseful you are.

“I’m prepared to take into account there were not a large number of images and you’ve got no previous convictions so I am not today going to deprive you of your liberty.”

At an earlier hearing it was revealed that detectives from Police Scotland’s Cyber Crime Unit got a tip-off that the Cairns’ internet IP address had been used to access indecent images of children.

Officers got a search warrant and went to her home in Falconer Rise, Livingston.

She was interviewed and her mobile phone was seized and examined. The indecent images and other images were found on the phone.

There were three Category ‘B’ images showing non-penetrative sexual activity and 161 photographs in the least serious Category ‘C,.

In addition, there was one Category ‘A’ movie involving children as well as the extreme video showing sex with the dog.

Cairns was interviewed and made various admissions to officers before being arrested and charged.

Outside her ground floor flat, Cairns said: “I’ve had a long day. My health doesn’t keep great and I just want to go home and rest.”