March 2021

Sleeping sex attack creep caged for assault on young mum in her home

A pervert who sexually abused a young mum while she slept has been jailed.

Brazen John Jeffery struck while the woman was sleeping in the bottom of a bunk bed.

He removed her leggings and started performing the sex act on her after a drinking session with her brother.

He committed the offence while her brother lay sleeping on a couch in the living room.

She fled the flat in tears after the attack and he texted her to apologise.

But Jeffery now of Annan, Dumfries and Galloway denied assaulting her, lying she’d consented to the attack, and saying in court he’d given her “oral pleasure” at her flat in Paisley, near Glasgow.

But a jury saw through his lies and convicted him of sexually assaulting the woman, by performing a sex act on her without her consent.

The 35-year-old fled from Renfrewshire to Ayrshire and then moved to Annan and Dumfries while awaiting trial over the November 2017 sex attack, was convicted in January following a trial at Paisley Sheriff Court.

Sentencing was deferred for background reports to be prepared, and Jeffery returned to the dock yesterday to be sentenced.

Sheriff Seith Ireland said he had “clearly imbibed substantially” before committing the offence and pointed out it had clearly affected her psychologically, explaining: “She is certainly hesitant and very wary indeed of inviting anyone into her home.”

He pointed out that Jeffery had a previous conviction for a violent assault in 2005 as he jailed him for 18 months for the sexual assault.

He also placed him on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years, saying the attack was “a very serious matter indeed.”

Giving evidence from behind a screen, she said she went to bed leaving him and her brother drinking and listening to music in the living room.

And she said she woke up some time later to find Jeffery in between her legs, performing a sex act on her against her will.

March 2021

Ecclefechan chatroom pervert given community service after being caught in police “sting”

A chatroom pervert was caught in an online police “sting” operation, a court heard.

Keith Turk from Ecclefechan believed he was having sexual conversations with a 13-year-old girl called Amber – but in reality he was chatting to an undercover police officer.

Livingston Sheriff Court heard that Police Scotland officers acted on information that Kik app user “Sheep1984” had been engaging in chat with a user he believed to be an underage girl.

Turk sent an image of himself to the fake profile along with a mobile phone number which was registered to his place of work.

Further inquiries confirmed that the accused was the user of that particular phone.

Married Turk, 36, also asked his prey to send him a pair of her pants.

However, the court heard he ended the conversation abruptly after the undercover cop suggested he and the fake 13-year-old should meet up.

Detectives got a search warrant and raided Turk’s then home in Lenzie Avenue, Livingston, West Lothian, in January last year.

Both he and his wife were cautioned and the reason for the enquiry was explained to them.

The accused made unprompted remarks such as “I’ve been on Kik, but not since September” and had to be reminded he was under caution.

When his wife was interviewed she recognised the user name “Sheep1984” as one used by her husband.

His mobile phone was also found to be the same number used to communicate with the 13-year-old Kik profile.

Turk earlier pled guilty to sending communications of a sexual nature to “Amber” and causing an older child to look at a sexual image to obtain sexual gratification or to humiliate, distress or alarm the undercover police constable between September 23 and October 21, 2019.

Passing sentence, Sheriff Douglas Kinloch said the charge was “concerning” because although it was a police officer online, the accused thought he was sending a sexual message and a sexual image to a 13-year-old girl.

He said: “I’m persuaded, taking into account that the accused is a first offender and the other factors in mitigation, that I can properly deal with this by means of a non-custodial sentence because my belief is it may be a more effective way of preventing the accused doing anything like this again.”

He placed Turk under social work supervision for three years with “stringent” conduct requirements including a ban on him having unsupervised contact with children and limitations on internet use.

He also ordered the accused to carry out 165 hours of unpaid work within 12 months and said his name would remain on the sex offenders’ register for three years.

October 2020: Now living in Kirkpatrick-Fleming under a new surname of Lockhart

December 2014

Lorry driver jailed for raping woman he snatched off street in east London

A lorry driver who snatched a woman off the street and raped her in the grounds of a rugby club has been jailed for nine years.

Steven Murdoch, 36, spotted his victim making her way home from a night out in Romford.

The 30-year-old woman had become separated from her group and was walking to a friend’s home in the early hours.

Murdoch parked his car in the grounds of Romford Rugby Club and followed on foot before hitting her over the head.

He threw her over his shoulder, with CCTV footage showing him running with her through the entrance of the club.

The woman tried to dial 999 but he punched her and snatched the phone. He then forced her to perform oral sex on him before raping her repeatedly on a concrete ramp.

Richard Germain, prosecuting, told the court that Murdoch handed back the phone and began to weep.

He was tracked down after police searched through hours of CCTV footage to match fragments of the number plate of his Vauxhall Astra from different clips.

He was arrested at his home in Dumfries, Scotland. Murdoch admitted two charges of rape and one count of assault by beating at Snaresbrook crown court.

Sentencing Murdoch to nine years in prison, Judge Sheelagh Canavan said: “In September this year your victim’s world was a normal one, she went out with her friends, she had a few drinks, she was having a pleasant evening.

“It was a perfectly normal world and a perfectly normal life and you took that from her — whatever I do with you today I can’t give back what you took from her.”

She added: “What you did was heinous, it was wicked, it was awful and your sentence in no way reflects the impact on your victim of what you did to her, I can only wish her well for the future.”

He was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register and barred from working with children and vulnerable adults

October 2016

Teenager sent dick pictures to 13-year-old girl

A teenager who sent pictures of his privates and sexually explicit messages to a 13-year-old girl has been put on the sex offenders’register for six months.

Ryan Kingstree, 18, of McGeoch Drive, Dumfries, admitted committing the offence on various occasions between December and June.

Sheriff Brian Mohan also placed Kingstree on a supervision order for six months