Category Archives: Lothian

Joseph Ray – Prestonpans

05 Monday Oct 2020

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November 2020

Father jailed for killing two-month-old Ava Ray

A father who killed his baby daughter in what was described as “a momentary loss of control” has been jailed for seven years.

Joseph Ray admitted violently shaking two-month-old Ava at their flat in Prestonpans, East Lothian, in 2012.

The 33-year-old was convicted after a seven-year investigation saw police consult medical experts to determine the exact cause of Ava’s death.

He was charged with murder but admitted the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

Following the child’s death, investigators ruled out the possibility that Ava had died from natural causes and concluded she had suffered a head injury as the result of an assault.

Ava’s mother Lauren Scott told the BBC: “I think it’s shocking that he only got seven years after all that time.”

Ray’s defence lawyer Shelagh McCall QC told the High Court in Glasgow that Ray had been woken by Ava crying.

He later told social workers of “feeling overwhelmed and angry” and he shook Ava twice, Ms McCall said.

She continued: “He still struggles to understand that what he did could have such a catastrophic consequence.

“He can’t ever make amends for the damage done in a momentary loss of control by an exhausted and inexperienced parent.”

Ms McCall added the case had taken time to come to court because of “contrasting medical views” – at one point it was thought Ava may have had a problem with blood clotting which could have explained her injuries, she said.

Prosecutor Ashley Edwards QC said Ray and Ms Scott – his partner at the time – had arguments mainly over who would do night time feeds.

On the day of the child’s death, Ms Scott had gone to work at 18:30, the court was told.

About 22:50, Ray told a neighbour his daughter was “cold to the touch” and paramedics found her “white in colour, limp and unresponsive”.

She was taken to Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children where she died the next morning.

Tests revealed her brain had been starved of oxygen and her death was initially treated as “unascertained”.

After “various experts” were consulted between 2014 and 2018, it was concluded Ava had died due to a “head injury”, Ms Edwards said.

The judge Lady Stacey said the case had been “a terrible tragedy” involving the death of a “much loved child.”

She told Ray: “As you know, Ava was entitled to look to you for love, affection and support. You failed in that and your failure had terrible consequences.

“Ava’s life was snuffed out just as it was starting by one of the people she was entitled to rely on.

“You have to live with that knowledge for the rest of your days.”

Ray had no previous convictions at the time of the death but has since been found guilty of two domestic assaults on Ms Scott.

The judge said she would have sentenced Ray to eight and a half years had he not pleaded guilty.

October 2020

Man admits shaking his tiny two-month-old baby daughter to death after arguing with his girlfriend over who would feed her at night

A father has admitted killing his two-month-old baby daughter by violently shaking her.

Joseph Ray has been charged after a near seven year probe into the death of baby Ava Ray at their flat in Prestonpans, East Lothian, on November 1, 2012.

The 32-year-old faced a murder accusation at the High Court in Glasgow but prosecutors accepted his guilty plea to the reduced charge of culpable homicide.

Ray was remanded pending sentencing next month

Baby Ava had been born on September 3, 2012 and was the first child for Ray and his partner Lauren Scott. 

Prosecutor Ashley Edwards QC said the couple had ‘arguments’ after the birth mainly over who would do night time feeds.

The hearing was told today that Ray initially claimed to police he had put Ava to sleep that night in her Moses basket.

Ray added he later went to give her a feed, lifted the baby up and found her to be ‘unresponsive’.

 No further details of the attack were revealed and Ray had no previous convictions at the time of the killing.

On the day of the killing, Ava was left in the care of Ray after Lauren had gone to work at a local bar at 6.30pm.

An hour later, he unsuccessfully tried to get his aunt to come over to ‘watch’ Ava while he went for a shower.

Around 10.50pm, Ray was then racing to a neighbour after claiming he had found his daughter to be ‘cold to the touch’.

Miss Edwards: ‘He was described as upset and crying.’

A 999 was made and Ray was told to carry out CPR before mercy crews arrived. 

She continued: ‘A paramedic observed immediately that the baby was in cardiac arrest, white in colour, limp and unresponsive.’

Ava was rushed to Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children where tests revealed her brain had been ‘starved’ of oxygen. 

Despite efforts, the baby tragically died early the next morning. The court heard it was concluded at that time there were ‘no apparent suspicious circumstances’.

Ava’s death was initially treated as ‘unascertained’.

Miss Edwards then told how, between 2014 and 2018, that ‘various experts’ were consulted about what happened.

She added: ‘Following protracted discussions…the medical consensus is now that the pattern of injury…was caused by trauma.’

It was concluded Ava had died due to a ‘head injury’.

Ray had been held by police in October 2013 but was later freed and not charged with any offence.

It was in March 2019 that he first appeared in court in connection with his daughter’s death. 

Ray has since been guilty of two ‘domestic assaults’ on Lauren and it is not known if the couple are still together.

He had been accused of assaulting Ava on an earlier occasion and repeatedly attacking Lauren.

However, prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas to those two charges and he had been out on bail, but was remanded by judge Lady Stacey.  

Kristoffer Dryburgh – Kinghorn/Bonnyrigg

23 Sunday Aug 2020

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August 2020

Fife paedo caught with 69,000 child abuse images including friend’s molested daughter is caged

A vile paedophile from Fife who was caught with tens of thousands of horrific child abuse images – including images of a friend’s daughter being molested – has been jailed.

Kristoffer Dryburgh had a collection of more than 69,000 revolting photographs of children as young as 12-months-old being sexually abused by adults.

Dryburgh, 35, was also found to have downloaded hundreds of extreme pornographic movies featuring adults and animals when police raided an address in Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, last year.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the vile pervert also had two photographs taken at a friend’s home in Glasgow that showed the woman’s daughter being sexually abused.

The court heard Dryburgh, from Kinghorn, Fife, used internet search terms including “sweet teen pu**y” and “daddy and daughter” to scour the web for the disturbing child abuse images.

He pled guilty to three charges at the capital court last week where he was placed on the sex offenders register and remanded in custody by Sheriff Norman McFadyen.

The sentence was deferred to October for social work reports and a risk assessment to be prepared.

Prosecutor Jade Doig told the court Police Scotland’s cyber crime unit had “received intelligence of the downloading indecent images of children” and officers raided the home in Bonnyrigg at around 7.30am on August 23 last year.

Ms Doig said an iPhone was found to have two “first hand pictures” stored on it and following enquiries it was found the images had been taken at a home in Glasgow in November 2018.

The fiscal said the pictures were taken at the home of a female friend of Dryburgh who had two young daughters.

Ms Doig said: “The photos showed an adult hand pushing apart the buttocks of a female child exposing her vagina.

“In addition a substantial number of images were recovered from an external hard drive which had been downloaded and involved girls from one year to 12 years of age.”

The fiscal told the court the total amount of images found to have been downloaded by Dryburgh was 69,281 with a further 1331 movies also discovered.

There were 3483 category A still images, 3454 Category B and 62,344 at Category C.

The harrowing find also uncovered 674 Category A movies – the most depraved end of the spectrum – 215 category B and 442 category C.

The court also heard the images found contained 56 images and 40 movies of extreme pornography depicting sexual activity between “adults and animals”.

Dryburgh pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children and taking or permitting to be taken indecent images of children at an address in Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, between December 17, 2017 and August 23 last year.

He also admitted to possessing extreme pornographic images depicting in an explicit and realistic way sex between adults and animals at the same address between January 25, 2018 and August 23 last year.

 

William Hailes – Bathgate

17 Friday Jul 2020

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July 2020

Evil Scots rapist who threatened to “ruin” teenage victim after horror attack jailed for four years

A serial Scots sex offender who raped a teenage girl before threatening to “ruin her” has been jailed for four years.

William Hailes ignored the 16-year-old’s frantic pleas for him to stop during the horrendous attack at a house in Livingston, West Lothian, on November 8 last year.

The 21-year-old pulled his victim’s trousers and pants down before forcing her to bend over a bed where he raped her.

After the attack, the callous fiend told the young girl that he would “ruin her”.

Hailes, of Bathgate, was already a high risk registered sex offender and was being monitored by authorities before the horrific rape.

The teenager broke down crying just days after the attack and told her mother what had happened prompting police to be called.

Lord Boyd of Duncansby told Hailes that he would have jailed him for six years if he had been convicted of the offence after trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Instead, the rapist was jailed for four years and will be monitored for a further six year period while also being placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Lord Boyd said that Hailes had no insight into the impact the rape may have had on the teenage victim.

The judge said: “Tellingly, you regret the offence because of the impact it has had on you.”

Defence counsel Niall McCluskey urged the court not to impose an Order for Lifelong Restriction, whereby an offender is kept in prison until they are no longer considered a danger.

He said: “To impose an OLR on a 21-year-old is quite a drastic sentence, not-withstanding the severity of the offence.”

Damian Lynch – Edinburgh/Midlothian

14 Tuesday Apr 2020

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April 2020

Pervert caught out by ‘distinctive’ tattoo after sending pictures of genitals to ‘school girl’

A perverted computer specialist who sent images of his genitals to who he thought was a young schoolgirl was caught out due to his distinctive tribal tattoo.

Damian Lynch sent disgusting naked pictures and a videos himself to the Internet profile of a 12-year-old girl called Chloe after contacting her on the social media site Kick.

A court heard Lynch, 50, also sent sordid “highly sexual” comments to the profile of a 13-year-old youngster called Emily during his depraved internet sessions two years ago

But the vile IT architect was snared after the two youngster’s profiles turned out to be female police officers who were working undercover in a bid to catch online sex predators.

And police also discovered he had downloaded horrific child abuse images – including a movie showing a five-year-old girl being sexually attacked by an adult male – when they raided his former home in Midlothian, in October 2018.

During a subsequent police interview the businessman denied sending the dirty online images to a child claiming he believed ‘Chloe’ to be an adult who was engaging in online “role play and fantasy”.

Lynch, who owns IT firm DAL Consultancy Ltd, pleaded guilty to three sexual offences and was placed on the sex offenders register when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

The former soldier was due to return to the dock for sentencing last week but the court hearing has been postponed to August due to ongoing coronavirus epidemic.

Last month prosecutor Nicole Lavelle told the court Lynch, a father of two young girls, contacted the two police officers who were posing as children on the free online messenger service Kick.

Ms Lavelle said he engaged in “highly sexual” conversations with both girls and asked ‘Emily’ if she “liked older guys” and if she had ever “played with a guy’s d**k”.

The fiscal said during the pervert’s online chats with ‘Chloe’ he had sent her naked pictures and videos of himself which showed off “a distinctive tribal tattoo on his bicep”.

Ms Lavelle added the pictures included one of Lynch’s erect penis and that he had also attempted to arrange a meeting with the child.

The court was told during Lynch’s police interview he told officers he believed ‘Chloe’ was an adult in her 20s and the pair had been engaging in “role play and fantasy”.

He denied being sexually attracted to children and said he found the images he had downloaded to an electronic tablet and a mobile phone to be “repulsive”.

Solicitor Jim Stephenson, defending, said he would reserve mitigation to the sentencing hearing.

Sheriff Michael O’Grady QC placed Lynch, currently of Seafield, Edinburgh, on the sex offenders register for a term still to be decided and deferred full sentence.

Lynch pleaded guilty to contacting who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl called Emily, who in fact was an undercover police officer, and sent communications of an indecent nature on July 16, 2018 at an address at Thornyhall, Dalkeith, Midlothian.

He also admitted to contacting who he believed to be a girl called Chloe, who in fact was an undercover police officer, and caused her to look at a sexual image by sending still and moving images of a sexual nature and repeatedly sending her communications of a sexual nature between September 27 and October 18, 2018 at the same address.

He also admitted to possessing indecent images of children at the same address between 12 July and 20 October 2018.

Michael Linkston – Winchburgh

24 Friday Jan 2020

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January 2020

Winchburgh paedophile jailed

A paedophile claimed he was “policing the internet” by collecting images of children being sexually abused, a court heard.

Michael Linkston was caught at his West Lothian home with more than a third of a million (320,000+) indecent photos and movies stored on 11 computer hard drives.

Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary the 49-year-old pervert told social workers he had no sexual interest in children.

Instead his excuse was that he took snapshots of pornographic pictures other people were posting online so he could alert the authorities to their crimes.

However, Livingston Sheriff Court was told that the convicted sex offender never contacted the police, or any other agency.

Linkston, was jailed today (Thursday) after earlier pleading guilty on indictment to taking and making indecent images of children over three and a half years.

His not guilty pleas to possessing indecent photographs for more than a decade and to having extreme porn showing females having sex with animals in “an explicit and realistic way” were accepted by the prosecution.

He was snared after police raided his home in Tippet Knowes Park, Winchburgh, on 1 March 2019. Detectives got a search warrant for the property after a tip off that the internet address had been used to download illegal images

The number of still and moving images that forensic experts found on his computer equipment ranked as one of the highest ever recorded by Police Scotland.

He had 1,288 indecent videos – 327 of them categorised as class ‘A’ showing youngsters being raped, 227 in category ‘B’ featuring non penetrative sexual abuse and 734 category ‘C’ movies of children posing naked or being abused in other ways.

The total number of still images found in his depraved collection shocked experienced officers. There were 604 in category ‘A’, 1,107 in category ‘B’ and a staggering 318,537 in category ‘C’.

Passing sentence, Sheriff Susan Craig told Linkston there was no alternative to a prison term because of the very high volume of images and numerous aggravating factors.

She told him it was of concern to the court that so many indecent images had been amassed by him over such an extended period of time.

Sheriff Craig said: “Your explanation as to why you had these amounts is unconvincing.

“Your position is that you were effectively policing the internet and taking snap shots of what other people were posting.

“It’s also clear that at no stage did you ever report things to anyone. The one thing you should have done you didn’t do, but you stored the images on 11 separate hard drives.”

She added: “You also deny having any sexual interest in children. Social work think that’s an unlikely explanation and they think you do have that inclination.

“In your case there are a number of aggravating factors, firstly the high volume of the material you collected over a significant period.

“There was significant planning. You deliberately went seeking this material and stored it on these hard drives to ‘report to the police’, which you didn’t do.

“You don’t take responsibility for your actions and you have very limited insight into the illegality of your behaviour.

“The only mitigating factor I was able to identify is you appear to have been of good character up to this point.

“In terms of risk, I’m told in the background report that your sexual interest in young children will remain a risk until you manage your attraction.”

The sheriff said the Appeal Court had ruled that offenders with a significant number of images in the most serious category should be imprisoned unless possession was ‘fleeting’ or there were compelling personal circumstances such as extreme old age.

She told Linkston: “There’s no alternative but for me to impose a custodial sentence on you given the number of images you have.

“You are fairly and squarely at the top end of the suggested sentencing strategy.”

She sentenced Linkston to 27 months in prison and ordered that his name remain on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.