Man jailed over rape and abuse of young girls

Colin Bouglas was sentenced at the High Court in Livingston

A man who raped and abused girls as young as two has been jailed for 14 years.

Colin Bouglas, 56, of Hawick in the Scottish Borders, had been found guilty of a number of sexual offences between 1984 and 2019.

Judge Susan Craig praised the "courage and bravery" of his three victims in giving evidence.

She told Bouglas his actions had had a "profound effect" on them.

Only a "very substantial" jail term was appropriate for his crimes, she added.

He was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow last year of six sexual offences including the rape of three girls as well as sexual assault and lewd and libidinous behaviour.

They were all under school age when he started targeting them and one was age two.

'No remorse'

On sentencing at the High Court in Livingston, the judge told Bouglas that although he had no previous convictions it could not be said he had led a "blameless life".

"In fact, quite the reverse," she said. "You were offending in the most serious way imaginable but had not been found out.

"Your victims were extremely young and you told at least one of them that they were not to tell anyone what had happened."

Judge Craig said two of the victims, who are now adults, asked if they could give their evidence without special measures such as screens.

She said: "They wanted, they said, to look you in the eye when they told the court what you had done to them."

She added he had shown "no remorse, empathy or understanding" about the seriousness of his offences.

He was jailed for 14 years and ordered to be supervised for five years on his release.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.