September 2018

Kelso child sex offender jailed for 15 months

A paedophile responsible for sex offences against two young girls in the Borders in the 1980s has been brought to justice three decades later and put behind bars.

Raymond Hay has been jailed for 15 months at Jedburgh Sheriff Court for historic sex crimes against the girls.

The 55-year-old, of Roxburgh Street in Kelso, had denied engaging in lewd, indecent and libidinous practices on one occasion at a house in Greenlaw with a girl aged between seven and 11.

He was also accused of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices with a second girl on various occasions when she was aged between four and nine.

Following a three-day trial, Hay was found guilty by a jury, however.

He was jailed for 10 months on one charge and another five months for the other.

Sheriff Peter Paterson also put Hay’s name on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

August 2018

Galashiels man found guilty of child abuse

A sex offender who preyed on two young sisters during their holidays to Scotland more than 20 years ago was convicted of his crimes yesterday.

Matthew Walley (45) was a teenager when he began abusing the children during their stays in the Scottish Borders.

One victim told the High Court in Edinburgh: “I remember very clearly him exposing himself to me and him saying ‘you are not ready for that yet’.”

Walley, of Winston Road, Galashiels, began a course of indecent behaviour towards one victim when she was aged just six and continued until she was 11.

He started with French kissing the child but his behaviour escalated into molesting her and get her to carry out sex acts during her holiday breaks from England.

The woman, now aged 37, works as a midwife but after having a child found it difficult to face leaving her children in the care of others and disclosed what had happened to her as a girl and was advised to report it to the police.

Walley had denied committing indecent behaviour towards her between January 1987 and 1993 and towards her younger sister, now aged 34, between April 1988 and 1992 when she aged between four and seven.

He French kissed the younger girl and got her to touch him. She said: “I have a memory of putting my hand into his pocket. The seams were broken so you could put your hand all the way through.”

He was found guilty of both the offences and sentence was deferred for a background report to be prepared.

The court heard that Walley told the older girl that he loved her during the abuse and she revealed that she felt “special”.

Prosecutor Richard Goddard told then jury that the episodes of abuse with the older girl appeared to become “almost a matter of routine”.

The advocate depute said that Walley had carried the acts against the girls for his own sexual gratification.

Walley, a former taxi driver, told the court that he had asked one of the girls “an inappropriate question” and she went and told on him at the time. He said he asked her: “Would you like to see it?”

Walley was placed on the sex offenders’ register following the trial before judge Lord Woolman.

August 2018

55-year-old found guilty of child sexual abuse

A Kelso man has been found guilty of historical sex crimes against two young girls following a jury trial at Selkirk Sheriff Court.

Fifty five year old Raymond Hay of Roxburgh Street, had denied using lewd, indecent and libidonous practices on one occasion towards a girl when she was aged between seven and 11 in the 1980s at a house in Greenlaw.

He was also accused of lewd, indecent and libidonous practices towards a second girl on various occasions when she was aged between four and nine

Following a three-day trial Hay was found guilty by the jury and sentence was deferred until next month for the production of background reports.

June 2018

Hawick child rapist jailed for breaching sexual offences prevention order

A child rapist has been jailed for breaching a sexual offences prevention order by being in the company of a three-year-old boy.

Thomas Hoare also possessed a passport, travelled to the Republic of Ireland and Spain without telling his supervising officer and breached bail conditions by failing to report to a police station.

The 51-year-old was jailed for 350 days at Jedburgh Sheriff Court, but that sentence was backdated to November 11, that being when he was first remanded in custody, so he is now eligible for release.

Hoare, formerly of Princes Street in Hawick but planning to return to England on his release, tried to deny he was on the sex offenders’ register.

He claimed that when he was sentenced to six years in prison in 2000 for raping a 10-year-old girl, a deal was struck with prosecutors that he would not be subject to the notification requirements of the 2003 Sexual Offences Act to allow him to get on with his life on his release.

However, at a proof hearing, procurator fiscal Graham Fraser produced documentary evidence stating that Hoare, going by the name of Thomas Todd at the time, was put on the sex offenders’ register for life after his rape conviction.

He said Hoare had “persuaded himself” over the past 18 years that he was not on the register and was in denial.

Sheriff Peter Paterson told Hoare that notification requirements would be “andatory for an offence of rape and dismissed his claim.

Following the sheriff’s ruling, Hoare pleaded guilty to four breaches of his sexual offences prevention order.

On January 3, 2017, he was seen by police in the company of a woman, a friend of his then partner, and her three-year-old child despite the order stating he was to have no contact with children under 16.

Officers watched as Hoare pushed the child’s pedal cycle and then they both went into a newsagent’s shop while the mother waited outside. After he was arrested, it emerged that Hoare played Scaletrix with the boy too.

Hoare also pleaded guilty to possessing a passport without the knowledge of his supervising officer between May and September 2017 and travelling to the Republic of Ireland and Spain without permission, as well as failing to report to Hawick police station in June 2017 although he was required to do so.

Defence lawyer Richard Souter said: “He is no longer in a relationship with the woman. He has an address in Hawick, though he is looking to move south of the border.”

Hoare was jailed for 10 years at Newcastle Crown Court in September 2000.

He was said to have been so revolted by his sex attack on the schoolgirl that he confessed to a 13-year-old unsolved armed robbery to make sure he got a longer sentence.

Hoare raped the 10-year-old girl on New Year’s Day 2000 at a house in South Shields, South Tyneside, after overpowering her on a bed and then fleeing in his car.

He was caught six hours later when police saw him asleep in the back seat at a motorway service station and thought he was a drink driver.

Hoare claimed he could not remember anything, but the forensic evidence against him was overwhelming.

The court was told that Hoare was so disgusted with himself that he confessed to a £2,500 knifepoint robbery at a North Yorkshire restaurant in 1987.

Defence lawyer Beatrice Bolton told the court at the time: “He did that because he was positively revolted by what he had done to that girl. “He sought to ensure he was locked up for as long as possible.

“That is powerful mitigation and what better way for a man to demonstrate his remorse. He is disgusted by the offence.”

Hoare was given a six-year sentence for rape and another four-year term to run consecutively for the robbery.