Abuse trial told 'witches pointed wands' at child

An abuse trial has heard claims that an alleged child victim said she had wands pointed at her by "witches".

Eleven people are on trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of sexually abusing a number of children and causing them to participate in seances to communicate with spirits and demons.

They deny all the charges against them.

The children were said to have made allegations to a man who took notes and then sent them to police and social workers.

Warning: This story contains details some readers may find upsetting

The man said he had got to know the children through his work and church and often saw them with his wife.

The girl, who would have been of pre-school age at the time of the alleged abuse, is one of a number of complainers who are aged under 13.

She was alleged to have said in her statement to the man: "I didn't like it when all the witches pointed their wands at me."

The older alleged victims said there was a large group of witches and wizards in a room who put a spell on the girl every day to make her a different animal.

They were also said to have claimed that a line of people blew drug smoke onto the girl's face.

According to the man, the girl also alleged that she had been locked in a cupboard and trapped in an oven and a fridge freezer.

In his notes, the man said that the older children helped her to get out of the oven.

He also wrote that the older children said they adjusted the temperature of the fridge when the child was not in it so it was not too cold as it happened so often.

Ouija board

The children were also said to have told the man that they had been raped multiple times.

The older children were also alleged to have told the man that the group referred to as "the coven" killed dogs in front of them and got them to stab the dogs themselves.

It was further alleged that the group had a ouija board that was used to talk to dead people and spirits.

Under cross examination the man agreed with a lawyer for one of the accused that he had not heard a whisper about abuse and witchcraft in the time he had known the children before these allegations were said to have been made.

There are a total of 32 allegations of incidents which are said to have taken place between January 2010 and October 2020.

Iain Owens, 45, Elaine Lannery, 39, Lesley Williams, 41, Paul Brannan, 41, Marianne Gallagher, 38, Scott Forbes, 50, Barry Watson, 47, Mark Carr, 50, Richard Gachagan, 45, Leona Laing, 51, and John Clark, 47, deny all of the allegation against them.

The trial continues.