April 2020: To be released 16th April, 2020

July 2019

Avonbridge sex offender jailed for 18 months

A former member of Avonbridge Community Hall committee who sexually abused a schoolgirl after plying her with alcohol was jailed for 18 months.

Brian Mulgrew (57), a surveyor by trade, was sentenced by Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist at Stirling Sheriff Court today (Wednesday) after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting the 14-year-old girl, making sexual remarks to her, and giving her alcohol.

Mulgrew was originally due to be sentenced on July 4 but was absent from court after crashing his car into a wall on the A706 road to Garage House in Linlithgow.

Simon Hutchison, defence solicitor, said the accident was caused by side effects of the drug codeine Mulgrew had been prescribed for headaches which caused him to “suffer a blackout” at the wheel.

At an earlier appearance, the court heard Mulgrew drove the 14-year-old to the Avonbridge Community Hall, in Blackstone Road, in the middle of the night on May 25 last year after buying her and some of her friends a carry-out of alcoholic drinks including cans of caffeine-laced schnapps drink Dragon Soop and cider.

Procurator fiscal depute Cheryl Clark said the girl, who cannot be identified, thought Mulgrew was actually concerned about her welfare, but then she began to feel “uncomfortable and confused” by his questions and demeanour.

Mulgrew drove his victim to the community centre in Blackstone Road, Avonbridge, and parked outside the main entrance.

The girl knew he had some responsibility for running the hall and thought he was just going to pick something up, however, after checking the coast was clear, he pulled her top down and sexually assaulted her, telling her to pretend he was her boyfriend.

Miss Clark said: “She told him to stop and called him a creep and a paedo. He attempted to kiss her on the lips. He then ceased his actions and said, ‘I’m only kidding, hen’.”

Mulgrew then dropped his victim off with some of her other friends, and she told them, and later her mother, what had happened.

He later admitted giving the girl a lift and told police: “She was good looking and had big breasts.”

Officers found CCTV footage of Mulgrew driving into the car park with the girl despite Mulgrew claiming the CCTV at the hall was broken and had not been working for some time.

The court previously heard that because he had a previous conviction for a sexual offence in 1989 a custodial sentence was “more than likely.”

Mr Hutchison said Mulgrew described his assault on the schoolgirl as “a moment of madness” and had shown remorse for his behaviour.

He added that Mulgrew was formerly “an upstanding member of the community” and had helped save the Avonbridge Community Hall from closure a few years ago.

Addressing Mulgrew, Sheriff Gilchrist said that despite his previous analogous conviction being many years ago a custodial sentence was “inevitable”.

“These are very serious charges involving a young girl aged only 14 at the time,” he added.

Mulgrew was sentenced to 18 months in custody and was placed on the sex offenders register for ten years.

July 2019

Avonbridge sex offender drives his car into a wall and delays sentencing for sexual assault on 14-year-old girl

A former member of Avonbridge Community Hall committee missed being sentenced for sexual abusing a schoolgirl on Wednesday after he crashed his car on the way to court.

Brian Mulgrew (57), a surveyor by trade, was due to appear at Stirling Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting the 14-year-old girl, making sexual remarks to her, and giving her alcohol.

Simon Hutchison, defence solicitor, said he received a call from police saying his client Mulgrew, Hareburn Avenue, Avonbridge, had been involved in a road accident “somewhere about Linlithgow” and had been taken to the Forth Valley Royal Hospital.

He said he had been told Mulgrew’s condition was “stable”.

The incident happened on the A706 road to Garage House in Linlithgow just after 9am on Wednesday.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “It looks as though the male driver has taken ill behind the wheel and then collided with a wall.”

In Mulgrew’s absence Sheriff Wyllie Robertson further deferred sentence on him to July 17.

At an earlier appearance, the court heard Mulgrew drove the 14-year-old to the Avonbridge Community Hall, in Blackstone Road, in the middle of the night on May 25 last year after buying her and some of her friends a carry-out of alcoholic drinks.

The girl, who cannot be identified, knew Mulgrew had some responsibility for running the hall and thought he was just going to pick something up.

He pulled her top down and sexually assaulted her, telling her to pretend he was her boyfriend.

Miss Clark said: “She told him to stop and called him a creep and a paedo. He attempted to kiss her on the lips. He then ceased his actions and said, ‘I’m only kidding, hen’.”

Mulgrew then dropped his victim off with some of her other friends, and she told them, and later her mother, what had happened.

He later admitted giving the girl a lift.

He told police: “She was good looking and had big breasts.”

Officers found CCTV footage of Mulgrew driving into the car park with the girl.

The court heard he had a previous conviction for a sexual offence in 1989 and he had been warned prior to his non-appearance on Wednesday that a custodial sentence was “more than likely.”

May 2019

CCTV captured Avonbridge hall official’s sexual assault of 14-year-old girl

A village hall official’s shocking sexual abuse of a schoolgirl in the car park of the premises was recorded on the hall’s own CCTV system.

Brian Mulgrew (57), a surveyor, is secretary of Avonbridge Community Hall management committee.

He took the 14-year-old girl to the hall in the middle of the night after buying both her and her friends alcoholic beverages – including cans of caffeine-laced schnapps drink Dragon Soop and some cider.

After running her boyfriend home and dropping him off, he began to quiz her about sex.

Appearing at Stirling Sheriff Court today, Mulgrew, of Hareburn Avenue, Avonbridge, pled guilty to sexually assaulting the girl, making sexual remarks to her, and giving her alcohol on May 25/May 26 last year.

Procurator fiscal depute Cheryl Clark said the girl thought Mulgrew was actually concerned about her welfare, but then she began to feel “uncomfortable and confused” by his questions and demeanour.

He drove his victim to the community centre in Blackstone Road, Avonbridge, and parked outside the main entrance.

The court heard the girl, who cannot be identified, knew Mulgrew had some responsibility for running the hall and thought he was just going to pick something up. However, after checking the coast was clear, he then told the girl he was going to perform a sexual act on her breasts.

He pulled her top down and sexually assaulted her, telling her to pretend he was her boyfriend.

Miss Clark said: “She froze and felt shock. She tried to move her body away, but she was in the passenger seat with a seat-belt on and could not. She told him to stop and called him a creep and a paedo.

“He attempted to kiss her on the lips. He then ceased his actions and said, ‘I’m only kidding, hen’.”

He then dropped his victim off with some of her other friends, and she told them, and later her mother, what had happened.

Police were contacted the next day.

Interviewed by detectives, Mulgrew denied eight times he had even gone to the community hall at all, but did admit giving the girl a lift, stating: “She was good looking and had big breasts.”

He claimed the CCTV at the hall was broken and had not been working for a year, but officers checked and found it had recorded footage of him driving into the car park with the girl.

The court heard he had a previous conviction for a sexual offence back in 1989.

Calling for reports and continuing bail, Sheriff William Gilchrist told Mulgrew: “You should be aware that given the nature of the charges and given the nature of your previous conviction, a custodial sentence is more than likely.”

Simon Hutchison, defending, said he would reserve his speech in mitigation for the sentencing hearing on July 3.