Paedophile prisoner died after refusing hospital care
A sheriff has ruled that one of Scotland’s oldest paedophiles died of natural causes after refusing treatment at a north-east hospital.
Rapist William Little, 79, fell seriously ill while serving a lengthy sentence at Peterhead Prison.
The married father of one, who had a string of convictions for serious sex offences, died after complaining to warders about leg pains.
An inquiry at Peterhead Sheriff Court into his final days heard that he refused to be examined by medical staff at the jail.
Fiscal depute Alisdair Fay told the inquiry that Little was taken to a local GP , when his condition worsened, but he declined to have his blood tested.
Back at Peterhead Prison, the pain continued and staff noticed the little toe on his left foot had become necrotic.
Little was examined at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, but was deemed too unfit for surgery.
He was transferred to the Summers Ward at Peterhead Community Hospital where he continued to refuse treatment.
Doctors had to use syringes to inject medicine because Little would not take tablets, the inquiry heard.
He died just after midnight on September 27, 2009.
In his written determination, Sheriff Gregor Murray found that Little died of bronchopneumonia.
He said that Little had a history of peripheral vascular disease.
‘His condition gradually deteriorated despite further appropriate care and medication, leading to his death,’ said Sheriff Murray.
In 2002, Little was sentenced to nine years after he was convicted of raping and sexually abusing three children.
He had previously been jailed in 1999 for molesting a six-year-old girl.
When he died, he was serving a 31-month sentence for rape.
During his trial at the High Court in Kilmarnock in 2002, jurors heard he regularly beat the terrified youngsters — two sisters and their brother — before forcing them to perform depraved acts at a house in Ayr in the 1970s.
January 2002
Paedophile jailed at 71
A PENSIONER was jailed for nine years last night after being convicted of raping and sexually abusing three children.
William Little, 71, one of Scotland’s oldest paedophiles, would regularly beat the terrified youngsters, two sisters and their brother, before forcing them to perform depraved acts at a house in Ayr in the 1970s.
He was caught more than 20 years later when a police officer recognised a victim’s name on a speeding ticket. Little, a retired council worker, first abused the children when they were aged seven, nine and ten.
The High Court at Kilmarnock heard one victim, now 37, describe how he was raped repeatedly. The victim’s 35-year-old sister said she confided about the abuse with a friend recently, but was “too embarrassed” to tell the police.
