Ex-SNP councillor jailed for six years for sex attacks on teenage boys

Mark Kerr attempted to rape one teenager while he was asleep

A former SNP councillor found guilty of grooming and abusing six teenage boys has been jailed for six years.

Mark Kerr attempted to rape one boy at his home in North Lanarkshire and assaulted another boy at a food bank.

During a two-week trial, the 40-year-old claimed he was the victim of a vendetta which had seen him hounded from the village of Croy.

However, a judge described the abuse as "a systematic and deliberate course of conduct".

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At the High Court in Paisley, judge Douglas Brown told Kerr: "You spent time with teenage boys, tried to engage them in sexually charged conversations and took advantage of opportunities to assault them.

"You took advantage of one of the boys while he was asleep and attempted to rape him."

Some of the victims and their relatives were at court to see Kerr sentenced.

There were cries of "justice" and "yes" as Kerr, who now lives in Wishaw, was jailed.

Prosecutors had described him as a "predator hiding in plain sight".

Most of the offences dated from before he was elected as a councillor for the Kilsyth ward in 2017.

'Lacking remorse and empathy'

The boy he attempted to rape was aged 15 at the time.

He went on to grope his final victim at a food bank in Croy in May 2020.

The court heard a pre-sentencing report had found Kerr was "lacking remorse and empathy" for the victims.

David Taylor, defending, said: "He tells me he regards sexual offending as abhorrent and, in no way, condones that behaviour.

"It is his view that he was not guilty."

Kerr was also put on the sex offenders list indefinitely.

Det Insp Colin Moffat, of Police Scotland's National Child Abuse Investigation Unit, welcomed the six-year sentence.

He said: "Kerr was in a position of responsibility and trust as a local politician but he preyed on teenagers, one of whom he met at an official function. He befriended them and betrayed them.

"I welcome his conviction and placement on the Sexual Offenders Register.

"Our thoughts are very much with his victims and their bravery in coming forward is commended. I hope they now get some closure with his sentencing."