Former serviceman Gordon Pinkerton guilty of abuse

  • Published

A former RAF serviceman has been found guilty of sexually abusing six young girls over a period of almost 50 years.

Gordon Pinkerton, 68, preyed on school children for most of his adult life, subjecting them to abuse at various houses across Scotland.

He raped two of the girls when they were just six years old.

Pinkerton, from Aberdeen, was convicted after a trial at the city's High Court. Sentence was deferred and he was remanded in custody.

The trial heard he began abusing young girls while serving at an RAF base in Scotland in 1963. The abuse continued until 2011.

He was found guilty of offences including two rapes, five charges of lewd and libidinous practices and behaviour and one sexual assault.

Pinkerton turned up at the family home of one of his six victims dressed in his uniform and abused her after telling her stories about the Air Force.

Another victim told the jury that she attempted to kill herself last year because she was ashamed of what had happened to her.

Police launched an investigation after Pinkerton confessed to his stepson that he had sexually assaulted a young girl.

Judge Lord Matthews said Pinkerton had abused his victims "dreadfully" and told him to expect a substantial number of years in jail for his crimes.

Pinkerton will be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on 9 May.