Stephen Watson – Armadale/Penicuik

06 Thursday Feb 2014

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February 2014

Soldier jailed for ‘devastating’ rape on a 12-year-old girl

A soldier who raped a 12-year-old girl has been jailed for five and a half years.

Stephen Watson, 22, had been drinking in pubs in Armadale, West Lothian, before returning to a home where the girl was sleeping.

He got into bed beside his victim and started having sex with her before instructing her not to tell anyone.

Watson was jailed at the High Court in Edinburgh after admitting raping the girl.

The court was told how Watson had talked to his victim about school and asked her if she had a boyfriend.

She remembered telling him to get off her and wriggling away before he stopped and got dressed. He then told her not to tell anyone what had happened and left the flat.

The victim cried and did not know what to do, advocate depute Richard Goddard said.

But she confided in a friend at school that she had been touched sexually and the matter was reported to a teacher who contacted the victim’s mother, police and social workers.

DNA samples

Watson, formerly of Glencorse Barracks in Midlothian, initially told police he had done nothing wrong.

But his DNA was found on samples taken from the victim.

He then admitted assaulting and raping the girl on 21 February last year.

Passing sentence, judge Lord Burns said: “I have no doubt these events have had a devastating effect on this girl.

“It is clear you committed this crime at a time when you were under the influence of alcohol, but the circumstances are you deliberately returned to this house where this girl was sleeping.”

The judge said it was plain that the girl had made it “abundantly clear” that she did not want him there.

“The fact that you may have been heavily under the influence of alcohol cannot mitigate this offence in any way,” he added.

He then pointed out that the victim was a vulnerable young girl.

‘High Risk’

The judge stated Watson had been assessed as posing a high risk of harm by the author of a background report, and that he would have faced a seven-year sentence, but for his guilty plea.

He then ordered that Watson should be under supervision for a further two years after his release from prison.

Defence counsel Michael Anderson said: “He is unable to recall the events due to the amount of alcohol he had consumed.”

He added: “He recognises that what he did was completely wrong. He further recognises the impact of what he did may have on the girl and the consequences for her.

“He has acted out of character and under the influence of alcohol.”

Lord Burns asked whether Watson’s Army career would be at an end and Mr Anderson said: “Inevitably it will be at an end.”

Watson was also placed on the sex offenders’ register.

Brian Moffat – Musselburgh/Loanhead

15 Friday Nov 2013

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February 2014: Moffat is now living in Loanhead, Midlothian

July 2008

Sex attacker could face life sentence

moff

A REGISTERED sex attacker of young girls who tried to rape a teenager while he was wearing a plaster cast on his leg could face a life sentence.

Brian Moffat was being monitored as a risk to the public when he assaulted a sleeping 18-year-old girl.

Moffat claimed that his victim had consented, but a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh rejected his defence and convicted him of the sex attack at a house in Musselburgh, East Lothian, in May last year.

Moffat, 42, was placed on the sex offenders register for life after breaking into a house in a Midlothian village and attempting to rape a 15-year-old girl in 1997.

After Moffat’s latest conviction, a judge yesterday said a risk assessment order should be prepared on him. This can lead to the court imposing a lifelong restriction order.

Lord Turnbull deferred sentence on Moffat, a temporary postal worker, and remanded him in custody.

Moffat’s latest victim was staying overnight at the home of a relative and awoke to find herself partially undressed with Moffat, who had been in the house, in the bed. She identified him by the “stookie” on his leg

She said she had been smoking cannabis but Moffat had been taking heroin and drinking.

After the jury convicted Moffat of the attempted rape charge on a majority verdict, advocate depute Alex Prenctice QC revealed his criminal past.

25 June 1999

The appellant is Brian Thompson Moffat who was convicted at the High Court at Edinburgh of a charge of attempted rape. At the time of the offence the appellant was aged 31, while the complainer was a girl of 15. The judge imposed a sentence of six years imprisonment and it is against that sentence that the appellant has appealed.

On the night in question the complainer was staying overnight in the house of her grandfather. The appellant is the son of the grandfather’s second wife and he called at the house on the evening of 4 July 1997. After spending a few hours, he left at about nine o’clock. He had some conversation with the complainer whom he had not seen for a considerable time, probably for about five years. At that stage there was no expression of sexual interest, but it appeared from what the appellant said in evidence that he in fact felt attracted by the complainer. The appellant was living elsewhere and was not expected to return that night to the house.

But he did return at about 2.30 in the morning and got into the house through a kitchen window which he forced. He went into the spare bedroom where the complainer was asleep and put his arm around her waist. She was terrified and jumped out of bed but the appellant pulled her back into bed, got on top of her, held her down and tried to kiss her. He handled her breasts and private parts and tried to pull down her pants. The complainer fought back, scratching and kicking. The appellant said he wanted to have sex and continued his efforts to do so after the complainer said “no way”. His penis touched her legs. She kept pushing him off and eventually the appellant, who was very drunk, ceased his attempts and fell asleep. The complainer was very frightened and was shaking. When seen the next day by a friend to whom she confided what had happened, she was extremely distressed, tearful and very nervous. Although previously of a lively and confident personality she is now very withdrawn and unsure of herself.

The trial judge summarises the position by saying that this was a case of attempted rape of a girl of 15 by a man some 16 years her senior. It was a frightening and very distressing experience for her and, although there was no physical harm, there have been persisting consequences for her mental and emotional state. He adds in his report there were no mitigating circumstances and that he considered a sentence of six years imprisonment to be appropriate.

While this appeal has been waiting for a hearing, certain investigations have been carried out into the appellant’s mental condition, but this morning Mr Wheatley indicated that he was content to proceed simply on the basis that the sentence imposed had in the circumstances been excessive. He asked us however to note that the psychiatric reports which had been obtained did indicate that at the time of the offence the appellant would have been suffering from schizophrenia. He pointed out, correctly, that there were no psychiatric reports available to the trial judge who was therefore not aware that the appellant was suffering from this illness at that time. Mr Wheatley’s submission was that this was a significant factor in the situation and that, although it had not been known to the trial judge, the illness was a matter which we could take into account in considering whether or not the sentence could be regarded as excessive. Mr Wheatley very candidly and properly accepted that, although it was possible to say that the appellant had been suffering from schizophrenia at the time, there was nothing in the reports available to us, or in any other material, which showed that his illness had actually been a trigger for the commission of this particular offence. For our part we see really no indication whatever that it was such a trigger. We notice that he was very drunk at the time and it was in this condition that he broke into the house and committed the offence. Therefore while we note that there was that background, but there is nothing to indicate that the illness had a direct impact on the offence.

Mr Wheatley added that although the trial judge had indicated in his report that there were no mitigating circumstances, in fact when sentencing the appellant the trial judge had noted that the assault had not proceeded as far as it might have done, and he had also noted that the appellant had perhaps shown some signs of regret. Mr Wheatley submitted that both of these matters were matters which could be regarded as relevant to mitigation. Finally, Mr Wheatley pointed out that the sentencing judge had noted that, although the appellant had a lengthy record of previous convictions, it contained nothing comparable. In that situation, said Mr Wheatley, the appropriate way to regard this matter was that it was a one-off incident and not a kind of behaviour which the appellant might be expected to repeat in the future.

The question for this court is whether, having regard to all the circumstances, the sentence can properly be regarded as excessive. The offence here was one which was extremely nasty involving breaking into a house and an attack on a young girl of fifteen asleep in bed, an attack which has plainly had very unfortunate consequences for the girl. We see no reason to believe that the appellant’s illness played any material role in this offence. In these circumstances, having regard to the nature of the offence, we are quite unable to say that the sentence selected by the trial judge was excessive, and the appeal must therefore be refused.

John McCallum – Edinburgh/Loanhead

06 Friday Sep 2013

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October 2013

Paedophile gets hired killer’s protection in jail

A GANGLAND enforcer jailed over a murder plot has been hired by paedophile John McCallum to protect him in Saughton Prison.

McCallum was sentenced to ten years for raping and abusing his twin nieces when they were children, but the 53-year-old has refused to be placed in segregation in the prison.

Now his associates are paying money to hardened criminal Frank Doris to “vouch” for McCallum and protest his innocence to fellow inmates.

Both men are housed in the same hall at Saughton, where Doris is serving 13 years for conspiring to murder businessman Kevin Martin in a £30,000 contract hit.

Relatives of the twin sisters abused by McCallum said they were aware that his associates had attempted to buy protection from other prisoners, but were rebuffed.

The relatives said they were “not surprised” that McCallum, who has links to the criminal underworld, wished to be kept in general population as he “will never admit his guilt”.

Sex offenders are typically kept in segregation in a bid to protect them from attacks by other inmates. Prison bosses carry out full risk assessments on new inmates to ensure their safety before they are assigned cells. McCallum was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh last Monday for subjecting nieces, Rachel Steadwood and Tracy Brown, 40, to eight years of sordid attacks when they were aged between five and 13.

He was convicted of abusing them in his caravan at a Duddingston travellers site and in Loanhead, Midlothian, where the businessman also lived, between 1978 and 1987. A family member said: “We know that Frank Doris is getting paid to look after him.

“McCallum’s associates tried to recruit another hardman at the prison but he said he wouldn’t protect a ‘beast’.

“Another prisoner in a similar situation was paying £500 a week so I’m not sure if Doris is getting the same. I’m not surprised that McCallum doesn’t want to be kept in segregation. He will never admit his guilt.

“He doesn’t care less about the lassies and what they went through. Before the trial he would go on his knees to people, swearing that he was innocent and crying his eyes out.”

Another source said: “McCallum is paying Frank Doris to vouch for him and put it around that he’s innocent. Doris is not a big man but he has a reputation in prison.

“McCallum doesn’t want to go into segregation with the other sex offenders so he’s got Doris to watch his back.”

McCallum, of Loanhead, who comes from a large traveller family, has maintained the loyalty of a number of associates despite his conviction.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual prisoners.”

Bodyguard’s history of violence

FRANK Doris was jailed in April 2010 after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

The 43-year-old was convicted alongside property developer Martin Black, who had hired Doris as a bodyguard. Black was living in fear of Kevin Martin, who claimed he was owed £100,000 from a soured business deal, and Doris was hired to kill him.

During their trial, the court was shown a “homemade” gun which was among the weapons amassed by Doris as part of the July 2008 murder plot.

Doris, who boasted of shooting seven men and often signed his text messages “Murder Inc”, was trapped after boasting of his plans to former vice girl Claire Lizanec. He threatened to kill her after she stole a gun from him to sell to buy drugs, and Ms Lizanec reported the conspiracy to police who swooped on his Edinburgh home.

September 2013

Man jailed for child rapes

A man who raped his twin nieces has been jailed for 10 years.

John McCallum, 53, abused the girls, now 40, on various occasions between 1978 and 1987 at different addresses in Scotland.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that the sisters, who have waived their right to anonymity, were just five years old when the abuse started.

McCallum was convicted earlier this month following a trial. Sentence had been deferred pending reports.

The court heard that McCallum, who was represented by one of Scotland’s top defence lawyers, still denies his guilt and claims that Frances McMenamin QC and her assistants did not do their jobs properly.

He also felt that female jurors during his trial were prejudiced against him.

Judge Lord Boyd told McCallum, from Loanhead, he had no other option but to send him to prison. He was also put on the sex offenders register “indefinitely”.

He added: “I note from the social inquiry report that you believe you were convicted because of the presence of young women on the jury and because your defence team failed to act properly.

“However, you were very ably represented by senior and junior counsel. The offences for which you have been convicted of are grave ones and must be marked by a substantial period of imprisonment.”

During his trial, the court heard how the offences first came to light 15 years ago when one of McCallum’s victims started to experience flashbacks of what happened to her as a child.

She told her doctor and asked for counselling – eventually reporting McCallum to the authorities.

The two women told the jury how the father-of-two molested them during visits to a travellers’ site in Edinburgh and at a house in Loanhead, Midlothian, and elsewhere.

The trial heard how he drove a lorry looking for work laying tarmac and that some of the abuse took place in the cab.

Ms Brown said that on other occasions, while selling logs for firewood, he would take advantage of her in his van.

The trial also heard that one of the sisters was just six years old when McCallum raped her on a caravan bed in 1979 or 1980

The court heard that McCallum ignored her tears and pleas for him to stop.

Ms Steadwood told how she was raped between August 1980 and August 1982 when she was just seven or eight years old.

McCallum, who was president of a children’s boxing club, denied the charges of rape and four charges of indecent behaviour going back to August 1978.

As the jury returned their verdicts, he interrupted and said he wanted to take a lie detector test.

Speaking after the case, Ms Brown, a businesswoman who owns a cafe, said: “He robbed me of a childhood and he’s robbed me of having proper relationships.

“I’ve been on medication, like anti depressants, for most of my life. There’s been drugs and bulimia and I’ve even tried to take my own life… that’s what he did to me.

“Waiting for the trial was incredibly stressful. The police were great and I have a panic button in the cafe.

“But now it’s done and I want to move on. I have my husband, my kids, my business. He’s not in charge of our lives anymore. We are.”

On Monday, Frances McMenamin QC said her client still maintained his innocence and that she could not say much in mitigation about the offences he had committed.

She said McCallum could not read or write and was previously held in respect by fellow members of the community.

She added: “He is a businessman who has obtained everything in his life through sheer hard work.”

As he was being led away to begin his sentence, McCallum said: “I’m an innocent man. I’m an innocent man. I’m getting 10 years and I’m an innocent man.”

Following the sentencing, Det Ch Insp Kenny Gray said: “John McCallum is a predatory individual who subjected his victims to a significant period of abuse throughout their teenage years and young adult lives.

“If not for the courage of these women in coming forward, his offences may have gone undetected and I would like to once again praise both Tracy and Rachel for their bravery during our investigation.

“I sincerely hope that today’s sentence encourages other victims of sexual crimes, who may be suffering in silence, to come forward and report their abuse to police.

“Police Scotland is committed to keeping people safe and will thoroughly investigate any reports of sexual abuse, regardless of when the offences took place.”

September 2013

Man guilty of child rapes

A MAN who raped two little girls and forced them to commit other sex acts has been told to expect a substantial jail sentence.

A jury found John McCallum, 53, guilty after one of his victims stared across a courtroom as she gave evidence and vowed: “I will never forgive you.”

A trial heard how the sisters kept quiet for years about a catalogue of abuse inflicted on them.

The offences first came to light when a chance experience 15 years ago – a fright as she walked down a corridor – unlocked the memory of one of his victims and she began to experience “flashbacks.”

The woman told her doctor what had happened to her and asked for counselling – eventually reporting McCallum to the authorities.

At the High Court in Edinburgh she had to re-live her experiences again, along with her sister, over the past week.

They told the jury how McCallum, married with two daughters, molested them during visits to a mobile caravan parked at a travellers’ site in Edinburgh and at a house in Loanhead, Midlothian, and elsewhere.

The trial heard how McCallum, now of Straiton Road, Loanhead, drove a lorry looking for work laying tarmac, and some of the abuse took place in the cab.

The girl said that on other occasions, while selling logs for firewood, he would take advantage of her in his van.

The trial also heard that one of the sisters was just six-years-old when McCallum raped her on a caravan bed in 1979 or 1980.

The other sister told how she was raped between August 1980 and August 1982 when she was seven or eight years old.

McCallum, who was also president of a kids’ boxing club, denied the charges of rape and four charges of indecent behaviour going back to August 1978.

As the jury delivered their verdicts he interrupted, demanding to take a lie detector test.

The verdicts were also greeted with shock and disbelief by his supporters in court.

Judge Lord Boyd remanded McCallum in custody pending sentence later this month – telling him he could expect a substantial period of imprisonment after being found guilty of very serious offences

David Jamieson – Leith/Dumbarton

24 Wednesday Apr 2013

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April 2013

Pervert sent autistic 13 yr old girl Facebook sex messages

david

A PERVERT bombarded an autistic 13-year-old girl with hundreds of sexually explicit Facebook messages and urged her to meet him at Alton Towers theme park.

David Jamieson formerly of Dumbarton told the youngster that he “loved” her during the sordid grooming bid, and asked her whether she felt “sexually excited” by him.

The 50-year-old was caught when he sent another explicit message to the girl’s twin sister asking her to expose her breasts.

The teenager alerted her mother and a check of her disabled sister’s Facebook account uncovered 800 postings from Jamieson.

Jamieson appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to sending the girl explicit text and Facebook messages between July 1 and October 19, 2011, along with gifts while trying to get her to meet him.

The court heard that the girl has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning difficulties, and is on the autistic spectrum. Jamieson also admitted a charge of making a sexual remark to her sister on an occasion between September 28 and October 19, 2011.

Jamieson, from Leith, had met the twin sisters, who can’t be identified for legal reasons, and their mother while on holiday in Cyprus and kept in touch with the girls through Facebook when he returned to Edinburgh.

He sent the disabled sister tickets to an English Premiership match between Everton and Queens Park Rangers, and also gave her an Everton top.

His Facebook postings became increasingly sexual, while telling her “I’m daft on you” and “I love you”.

The court heard that the teenager struggled to understand what Jamieson was writing to her. In one exchange, Jamieson asked what the girl thought of him when they met and she replied she thought he was “funny”.

He asked, “Did you feel sexually excited as well?” and the teenager replied, “Nar”.

He was caught when he sent her twin sister a message asking her “Have you signed up for Playboy yet?” before asking her to expose her breasts to “let the air get to them”.

The appalled youngster replied: “I’m 13, that’s sick you weirdo” and promptly informed her mother.

Jamieson was later arrested and told police that he thought the twins were 15 years old, and that he must have been drunk when he sent the messages.

Defence solicitor Mark Harrower told the court that during his police interview, Jamieson told detectives that he felt “really embarrassed” by the messages, adding that when he sent them “it didn’t seem real”.

Sheriff Donald Corke deferred sentence on Jamieson, of Albion Gardens, until May 22 for reports and placed him on the sex offenders register.

Colin Whitelaw – Llanelli/Midlothian

18 Tuesday Dec 2012

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June 2019: Colin Whitelaw has now been released. He is currently residing in a flat in the Llanelli area. He now has a hearing aid, and walks aided with a walking stick. He has aged considerably from the photo attached.

He has recently inherited a property in Norton Road in Penygroes and has been visiting the property regularly.

August 2010

Pervert subjected his victims to ‘sadistic sexual terrorism’

1685605

A PERVERT could die in prison after he was jailed for 15 years for what a judge branded “sadistic sexual terrorism”.

Colin Whitelaw, who was working as an accountant in Port Talbot, and who gave a Llanelli address in court, was back in the dock at the High Court in Glasgow after he was earlier convicted of attacking three terrified children.

The accountant was snared when one of his victims told a psychiatrist prior to him being sentenced for a murder that he had been abused.

Judge Bill Dunlop told the 58-year-old — who maintains he is the victim of a “conspiracy” — that the offences were “sick and grotesque”.

He went on: “These were children — you subjected them to sadistic sexual terrorism. You violated their trust and their bodies.”

As well as the jail term, Judge Dunlop also ordered Whitelaw, who worked as an accountant at Lewis, Ladd and Company in Port Talbot, be supervised for five years should he ever be released.

Whitelaw looked ashen faced as he was led handcuffed to the cells.

A harrowing trial heard how all three youngsters were raped and sexually abused at various locations in Midlothian in the 1960s and 70s.

He faced a total of 12 charges against three people, including assault to injury, assault rape under the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1922 and sodomy

Members of the jury broke into tears when the guilty verdict was returned.

The first victim told the jury how he was attacked numerous times by Whitelaw.

He added: “I was told that I would be beaten if I told anyone what had happened.”

He also recalled how on one occasion he had to set his dog on the pervert to get him away. The abuse finally stopped when the victim threw a bottle of bleach at Whitelaw years later.

The man only revealed his ordeal to a psychiatrist around three years ago while waiting to be sentenced for murdering a woman.

Whitelaw’s second victim told the jury Whitelaw raped him and burned him with a lit cigarette.

The third victim told how she tore clumps of her hair out and flushed it down the toilet as a result of her ordeal that lasted for nine years.

Former soldier Whitelaw — who married his gay partner of 23 years in a civil partnership last year — claimed during the trial the trio had concocted a “pack of evil lies”.

His QC Donald Findlay said: “He adamantly maintains that he has been the victim of a horrendous miscarriage of justice and a conspiracy.”

He added: “It is not beyond possibility that Mr Whitelaw may die in prison.”

Following the guilty verdicts last month a spokesman for Lewis, Ladd and Company expressed the firm’s horror at discovering Whitelaw’s past.

He said: “It’s shocking. The staff have been told and they are all shocked. He came from an agency in 2008. He said he was having some family problems in Scotland and asked for some leave. Then we had a phone call saying he wasn’t coming back.”

February 2014

Soldier jailed for ‘devastating’ rape on a 12-year-old girl

A soldier who raped a 12-year-old girl has been jailed for five and a half years.

Stephen Watson, 22, had been drinking in pubs in Armadale, West Lothian, before returning to a home where the girl was sleeping.

He got into bed beside his victim and started having sex with her before instructing her not to tell anyone.

Watson was jailed at the High Court in Edinburgh after admitting raping the girl.

The court was told how Watson had talked to his victim about school and asked her if she had a boyfriend.

She remembered telling him to get off her and wriggling away before he stopped and got dressed. He then told her not to tell anyone what had happened and left the flat.

The victim cried and did not know what to do, advocate depute Richard Goddard said.

But she confided in a friend at school that she had been touched sexually and the matter was reported to a teacher who contacted the victim’s mother, police and social workers.

DNA samples

Watson, formerly of Glencorse Barracks in Midlothian, initially told police he had done nothing wrong.

But his DNA was found on samples taken from the victim.

He then admitted assaulting and raping the girl on 21 February last year.

Passing sentence, judge Lord Burns said: “I have no doubt these events have had a devastating effect on this girl.

“It is clear you committed this crime at a time when you were under the influence of alcohol, but the circumstances are you deliberately returned to this house where this girl was sleeping.”

The judge said it was plain that the girl had made it “abundantly clear” that she did not want him there.

“The fact that you may have been heavily under the influence of alcohol cannot mitigate this offence in any way,” he added.

He then pointed out that the victim was a vulnerable young girl.

‘High Risk’

The judge stated Watson had been assessed as posing a high risk of harm by the author of a background report, and that he would have faced a seven-year sentence, but for his guilty plea.

He then ordered that Watson should be under supervision for a further two years after his release from prison.

Defence counsel Michael Anderson said: “He is unable to recall the events due to the amount of alcohol he had consumed.”

He added: “He recognises that what he did was completely wrong. He further recognises the impact of what he did may have on the girl and the consequences for her.

“He has acted out of character and under the influence of alcohol.”

Lord Burns asked whether Watson’s Army career would be at an end and Mr Anderson said: “Inevitably it will be at an end.”

Watson was also placed on the sex offenders’ register.

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February 2014: Moffat is now living in Loanhead, Midlothian

July 2008

Sex attacker could face life sentence

A REGISTERED sex attacker of young girls who tried to rape a teenager while he was wearing a plaster cast on his leg could face a life sentence.

Brian Moffat was being monitored as a risk to the public when he assaulted a sleeping 18-year-old girl.

Moffat claimed that his victim had consented, but a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh rejected his defence and convicted him of the sex attack at a house in Musselburgh, East Lothian, in May last year.

Moffat, 42, was placed on the sex offenders register for life after breaking into a house in a Midlothian village and attempting to rape a 15-year-old girl in 1997.

After Moffat’s latest conviction, a judge yesterday said a risk assessment order should be prepared on him. This can lead to the court imposing a lifelong restriction order.

Lord Turnbull deferred sentence on Moffat, a temporary postal worker, and remanded him in custody.

Moffat’s latest victim was staying overnight at the home of a relative and awoke to find herself partially undressed with Moffat, who had been in the house, in the bed. She identified him by the “stookie” on his leg

She said she had been smoking cannabis but Moffat had been taking heroin and drinking.

After the jury convicted Moffat of the attempted rape charge on a majority verdict, advocate depute Alex Prenctice QC revealed his criminal past.

25 June 1999

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October 2013

Paedophile gets hired killer’s protection in jail

A GANGLAND enforcer jailed over a murder plot has been hired by paedophile John McCallum to protect him in Saughton Prison.

McCallum was sentenced to ten years for raping and abusing his twin nieces when they were children, but the 53-year-old has refused to be placed in segregation in the prison.

Now his associates are paying money to hardened criminal Frank Doris to “vouch” for McCallum and protest his innocence to fellow inmates.

Both men are housed in the same hall at Saughton, where Doris is serving 13 years for conspiring to murder ­businessman Kevin Martin in a £30,000 contract hit.

Relatives of the twin sisters abused by McCallum said they were aware that his associates had attempted to buy protection from other prisoners, but were rebuffed.

The relatives said they were “not surprised” that McCallum, who has links to the criminal underworld, wished to be kept in general population as he “will never admit his guilt”.

He was convicted of abusing them in his caravan at a ­Duddingston travellers site and in Loanhead, Midlothian, where the businessman also lived, between 1978 and 1987. A family member said: “We know that Frank Doris is getting paid to look after him.

“McCallum’s associates tried to recruit another hardman at the prison but he said he wouldn’t protect a ‘beast’.

“Another prisoner in a similar situation was paying £500 a week so I’m not sure if Doris is getting the same. I’m not surprised that McCallum doesn’t want to be kept in segregation. He will never admit his guilt.

“He doesn’t care less about the lassies and what they went through. Before the trial he would go on his knees to people, swearing that he was innocent and crying his eyes out.”

Another source said: “Mc­Callum is paying Frank Doris to vouch for him and put it around that he’s innocent. Doris is not a big man but he has a reputation in prison.

“McCallum doesn’t want to go into segregation with the other sex offenders so he’s got Doris to watch his back.”

McCallum, of Loanhead, who comes from a large traveller family, has maintained the loyalty of a number of associates despite his conviction.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual ­prisoners.”

Bodyguard’s history of violence

FRANK Doris was jailed in April 2010 after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

The 43-year-old was convicted alongside property developer Martin Black, who had hired Doris as a bodyguard. Black was living in fear of Kevin Martin, who claimed he was owed £100,000 from a soured business deal, and Doris was hired to kill him.

During their trial, the court was shown a “homemade” gun which was among the weapons amassed by Doris as part of the July 2008 murder plot.

September 2013

Man jailed for child rapes

A man who raped his twin nieces has been jailed for 10 years.

John McCallum, 53, abused the girls, now 40, on various occasions between 1978 and 1987 at different addresses in Scotland.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that the sisters, who have waived their right to anonymity, were just five years old when the abuse started.

McCallum was convicted earlier this month following a trial. Sentence had been deferred pending reports.

The court heard that McCallum, who was represented by one of Scotland’s top defence lawyers, still denies his guilt and claims that Frances McMenamin QC and her assistants did not do their jobs properly.

He also felt that female jurors during his trial were prejudiced against him.

Judge Lord Boyd told McCallum, from Loanhead, he had no other option but to send him to prison. He was also put on the sex offenders register “indefinitely”.

He added: “I note from the social inquiry report that you believe you were convicted because of the presence of young women on the jury and because your defence team failed to act properly.

“However, you were very ably represented by senior and junior counsel. The offences for which you have been convicted of are grave ones and must be marked by a substantial period of imprisonment.”

During his trial, the court heard how the offences first came to light 15 years ago when one of McCallum’s victims started to experience flashbacks of what happened to her as a child.

She told her doctor and asked for counselling – eventually reporting McCallum to the authorities.

The two women told the jury how the father-of-two molested them during visits to a travellers’ site in Edinburgh and at a house in Loanhead, Midlothian, and elsewhere.

The trial heard how he drove a lorry looking for work laying tarmac and that some of the abuse took place in the cab.

Ms Brown said that on other occasions, while selling logs for firewood, he would take advantage of her in his van.

Both men are housed in the same hall at Saughton, where Doris is serving 13 years for conspiring to murder businessman Kevin Martin in a £30,000 contract hit.

He was convicted of abusing them in his caravan at a Duddingston travellers site and in Loanhead, Midlothian, where the businessman also lived, between 1978 and 1987. A family member said: “We know that Frank Doris is getting paid to look after him.

Another source said: “McCallum is paying Frank Doris to vouch for him and put it around that he’s innocent. Doris is not a big man but he has a reputation in prison.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual prisoners.”