Child abuse ring victims suffered 'horrific ordeal'

Top row, left to right: Paul Brannan, John Clark, Scott Forbes, Barry Watson. Bottom row, from left: Iain Owens, Lesley Williams, Elaine Lannery, Marianne Gallagher

Five men and three women have been found guilty of abusing children after a trial that is believed to have been the largest prosecution of a child abuse ring in Scotland.

The court heard that four children, all under the age of 13, were introduced to a world of drugs where they were exposed to sexual abuse and violence.

The offences included rape, and attempted murder and assault.

Police said the victims had suffered "a horrific ordeal".

A further three people - two men and a woman - were acquitted.

After the trial at the High Court in Glasgow, seven of the accused were convicted of sexual abuse, including rape, and four of them were found guilty of attempting to murder a young girl by trapping her in various places including a cupboard.

Iain Owens, 45, Elaine Lannery, 39, Lesley Williams, 41, Paul Brannan, 41, Scott Forbes, 50, Barry Watson, 47, and John Clark, 47, had denied all of the allegations against them but were found guilty of sexually abusing children.

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The court heard two girls and a boy were violently and sexually assaulted on multiple occasions between 2012 and 2019, and members of the group used Class A drugs in front of the children and caused them to consume alcohol and drugs.

Owens, Lannery, Brannan and Williams were found guilty of attempted murder.

Marianne Gallagher, 38, was convicted of one count of assault to injury but was cleared of all other charges.

Charges related to causing the children to take part in seances and witchcraft were dropped during the two-month trial.

Judge Lord Beckett remanded the seven guilty of the most serious offences in custody. They will be sentenced in January alongside Gallagher, who was bailed.

Mark Carr, 50, Richard Gachagan, 45, and Leona Laing, 51, were acquitted of all the charges against them.

The trial took place at the High Court in Glasgow

The trial heard that the children first came into contact with social work in Glasgow in August 2017 and were deemed to be at risk in July 2018.

The allegations of violence and sexual abuse did not come to light until 2020.

The court heard that police were alerted by a man who had got to know the children.

One of the victims became hysterical when she mistakenly thought she had been shut in a room. The man and his wife then documented details of what the children recalled happening at the hands of the gang.

There were said to have been "rape nights" and "dance and sex nights" in a Glasgow drugs den.

One child described it as the "dark and scary beastie house".

Following the verdict, Det Supt Nicola Kilbane said it had been "a horrific ordeal" for the victims, who suffered years of "unimaginable abuse".

"The levels of depravity shown in this case are extremely rare in Scotland and the courage of the victims was essential in securing this conviction," she said.

Colin Anderson, the independent chair of Glasgow's Child Protection Committee, said it had been a "highly complex case" and the circumstances of the children involved would be subject to a multiple agency review.

He said: "It is therefore inappropriate to comment further at this time."