January 2015

Multiple child rapist jailed last year dies in prison

A man convicted of a series of rapes on underage girls has died in prison.

In October, William Mailer, 71, from Falkirk, was sentenced to eight years in jail for the attacks which dated back to the 1970s and 1980s.

The High Court heard that the abuse took place while Mailer was in his 30s and 40s. He raped two girls, aged between 11 and 12 and between 12 and 13, in Edinburgh and Dalkeith.

The Scottish Prison Service said Mailer died at HMP Edinburgh.

It added:”Police Scotland have been advised and the matter will be reported to the procurator fiscal.

“Next of kin have been informed and a fatal accident inquiry will be held in due course.“

October 2014

Man jailed for raping two young schoolgirls and trying to rape a third

A pervert who raped two under-age girls and tried to rape a third has been jailed for eight years.

William Mailer was previously found guilty of carrying out the abuse during the 1970s and 1980s in Edinburgh and Dalkeith.

On Tuesday, the 71-year-old was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh for the attacks, which he carried out when he was in his 30s and early 40s.

Lord Glennie said it was clear from victim impact statements provided to him Mailer’s actions had been seriously damaging.

He said: “They still show the scars even today.”

Lord Glennie also placed Mailer on the sex offender register indefinitely.

Mailer, from Falkirk, had earlier denied six charges of indecent assault and rape but was found guilty of them all.

His first victim was aged 12 or 13 when she was attacked in a car at Holyrood Park, in Edinburgh, after she was given alcohol.

Mailer exposed himself and grabbed her by the neck and tried to get her to carry out a sex act during the incident between 1976 and 1978.

He assaulted the girl again and tried to rape her at his then home in Woodburn Street, Dalkeith, in Midlothian. She went to collect her school bag, which he had kept after the first attack, but was pushed into a bedroom and onto a bed during the assault.

During the same period he raped another girl who was aged 11 or 12 at the house in Dalkeith.

She was plied with alcohol and while she was intoxicated and asleep he removed clothing and had sex with her. He continued to rape her after she awoke.

Mailer indecently assaulted and twice raped another underage girl during the 1980s.The victim, now 42, told his trial that she would come to Scotland from her home in England to stay for holidays with her grandmother.

Mailer, who she said was a “touchy, touchy, feely, feely person”, preyed on the girl at a house in Bonnyrigg, in Midlothian.

She said: “He just used to say things like he loved me, that I was a special little girl. Because he told me that was what was supposed to happen I believed him.”

The woman said Mailer had carried out other sex acts with her as a child.

On one occasion he had taken her and other children to Portobello. The others were told to get out of the car to pick flowers and she was made to carry out a sex act on him.

She told advocate depute Keith Stewart QC that it stopped when she was 13.

Defence solicitor advocate Jim Stephenson said Mailer continued to deny the offence but realised he would be going to jail.

He said: “He is a man who suffers very, very poor health. Any custodial sentence is going to have a large effect on the remaining years he has left to live.”

August 2014

Ex-milkman sexually abused girls 

A FORMER milkman who subjected three girls to sexual abuse more than 20 years ago was warned he faces a jail sentence.

William Mailer, 71, raped two of his underage victims, one of whom he had plied with drink, and attempted to rape the third.

Mailer, of Castings House, Castings Avenue, Falkirk, in Stirlingshire, had denied six charges of indecent assault and rape but was found guilty of them all at the High Court in Glasgow.

His first victim was aged 12 or 13 when she was attacked in a car at Holyrood Park, in Edinburgh, after she was given drink.

Mailer exposed himself and grabbed her by the neck and tried to get her to carry out a sex act during the incident between 1976 and 1978.

He assaulted the girl again and tried to rape her at his then home in Woodburn Street, Dalkeith, in Midlothian, after keeping her school bag after committing the initial crime.

The girl was induced to attend at his house to collect the bag but was pushed into a bedroom and onto a bed during the assault.

During the same period he raped another girl who was aged 11 or 12 at the house in Dalkeith.

The youngster was plied with alcohol and while she was intoxicated and asleep he removed clothing and had sex with her. He continued to rape her after she awoke.

Mailer indecently assaulted and twice raped another underage girl during the 1980s.

The victim, now 42, told his trial that she would come to Scotland from her home in England to stay for holidays with her grandmother.

But Mailer, who she said was a “touchy, touchy, feely, feely person”, preyed on the girl at a house in Bonnyrigg, in Midlothian.

The woman, who said Mailer worked as a milk man or delivery driver, estimated that she was aged about 11 when he had sex with her.

“He just used to say things like he loved me, that I was a special little girl,” she said.

“Because he told me that was what was supposed to happen I believed him,” she told the court.

The woman said Mailer had carried out other sex acts with her as a child.

On one occasion he had taken her and other children to Portobello. The others were told to get out of the car to pick flowers and she was made to carry out a sex act on him.

The woman told the court: “Once I realised it was wrong I felt guilty and ashamed.”

She told advocate depute Keith Stewart QC that it stopped when she was 13.

The mother-of-two told the court: “I am not in a relationship now. I can’t hold down a relationship.”

Mr Stewart said that Mailer, a first offender, had a number of health problems including a heart condition.

Lord Glennie thanked the jury at Mailer’s trial and said: “It is particularly difficult in a case like this where it is of a sexual nature and it is harrowing for some of the witnesses.”

The judge deferred sentence on Mailer and placed him on the sex offenders’ register.