Former milkman William Mailer jailed for sex attacks

William Mailer was found guilty of six charges, including three of rape

A former milkman who sexually assaulted three girls nearly 40 years ago has been jailed for eight years.

William Mailer was found guilty of six charges of serious sexual assault, including three charges of rape.

The 71-year-old, from Falkirk, was convicted at the High Court in Edinburgh of attacking three girls aged between 11 and 13 in the 1970s and 80s.

Lord Glennie told Mailer, who was also an HGV driver, that his victims "show the scars even today".

Mailer carried out the attacks in the Edinburgh area between 1976 and the early 1980s while living in Dalkeith.

He denied raping two girls and indecently assaulting a third, but was found guilty of all six charges.

Defence solicitor Jim Stephenson said his client was "a man who suffers very, very poor health" and noted that "any custodial sentence is going to have a large effect on the remaining years he has left to live".

However, Lord Glennie insisted it would be "wholly inappropriate" if "a significant custodial sentence" was not imposed.

Mailer has also been added to the sex offenders register indefinitely.