August 2015

Firefighter jailed for 10 years for raping nine-year-old girl

john

A firefighter who was found guilty of raping a young girl he saved from a blaze has been jailed for 10 years.

John McGinn, 56, rescued the nine-year-old, whom he knew, from her home in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, in 1994.

Hours later he raped her at her grandmother’s home and threatened to kill her mother if she told anyone.

Hours later McGinn turned up at her grandmother’s house and pretended to play a game called King of the Castle with the girl.

He later put his hand over her mouth, told her it would be “OK” and raped her.

The victim – now 30 – said: “I told him to stop. He said if I told anyone he would kill my mother.”

It took her almost 20 years to pluck up the courage to report her ordeal.

An investigation of McGinn’s past led to him being convicted of six charges against the girl and others.

McGinn, who is now retired, was convicted of the charges following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow in June.

Jailing him yesterday, judge Lord Bonomy told McGinn he was guilty of a “catalogue of brutal behaviour”.

Lord Bonomy also placed him on the sex offenders list indefinitely.
During the trial the court heard that McGinn denied raping the young girl after he was arrested by police.

He told detectives: “It’s a downright lie – it did not happen. No chance. For her to come out with that is ridiculous. I would rather put a bullet in my own head than be a paedophile.”

He added: “Hanging is too good for a paedophile.”

McGinn, from Bellshill, claimed the victim had previously tried to blackmail him as she knew he had a lucrative fire brigade pension.

He claimed the rape allegation was payback for not giving her money.

The jury heard, however, that McGinn had assaulted another young girl and given her sweets and juice to keep her quiet.

The court also heard from a woman, aged 50, who had lived with McGinn in the Bellshill area, in the 1980s.

She said she had suffered years of sexual and physical violence from him and described McGinn as a “monster”.

The woman told the court that she was repeatedly raped by McGinn and had eventually snapped and chased him with a knife after he tied her to a bed and sexually assaulted her.

June 2015

Paedophile firefighter faces jail for raping nine-year-old girl

A FIREFIGHTER raped a nine-year-old girl after she had been rescued from a blaze at her home.

John McGinn attacked the traumatised youngster then told her to keep quiet or he would kill her mum.

A jury heard how the 56-year-old also raped and abused a woman he once dated, leaving her feeling like “a piece of garbage”.

McGinn – who physically attacked another young girl – denied the allegations and told detectives: “I would rather put a bullet in my own head than be a paedophile.”

But the disgraced 999 worker was convicted of six charges – including rape and lewd and libidinous conduct – after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Judge Lord Bonomy described the attacks as “a monstrous catalogue of physical and sexual abuse” and warned McGinn he faces a lengthy jail term when he returns to court to be sentenced next month.

McGinn, who was a firefighter for more than 30 years, was part of a crew who tackled a blaze at the young rape victim’s home in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, in January 1994.

He knew the child and her family. The youngster’s mum was rushed to hospital with smoke inhalation while the girl was taken to her gran’s.

McGinn, from Bellshill, turned up at the house and pretended to play a game called King of the Castle with the girl.

He later put his hand over her mouth, told her it would be “OK” and raped her. The victim – now 30 – said: “I told him to stop. He said if I told anyone he would kill my mother.”

It took her almost 20 years to pluck up the courage to report her ordeal.

Vile McGinn – who also worked as a bouncer – claimed the victim had previously tried to blackmail him as she knew he had a lucrative fire brigade pension.

He claimed the rape allegation was “payback” for not giving her money.

But the jury heard that a woman had also been abused by McGinn at around the same time.

She was 16 when she started dating McGinn in the mid-80s.

The pair lived together in Bellshill and the woman said he made her life a misery.

The victim, now 50, branded him “a monster”. She told the court that she was repeatedly raped – and only ever consented to sex twice.

He also assaulted another young girl and bribed her to keep quiet by giving her sweets and juice.

The judge told McGinn: “There is no explanation that could excuse what the jury has found you guilty of.”