Seven members of child sex abuse ring jailed after preying on children in drug den

Seven members of a child sex abuse ring have been jailed after they preyed on children in a drug den.

Each will serve a jail term from eight to 20 years and will be monitored for life, it was heard at Glasgow High Court.

Seven people of those convicted – two women and five men – took part in a Scottish child abuse ring in “depths of human depravity”.

All were convicted of gang raping a child and abusing other children in a drug den in Glasgow where heroin and crack cocaine were used.

Iain Owens, 46; Elaine Lannery, 40; Lesley Williams, 43; Paul Brannan, 42; Scott Forbes, 51; Barry Watson, 48; and John Clark, 48, were convicted in November 2023 after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Four of the group – Owens, Lannery, Brannan and Williams – were found guilty of attempting to murder a child by pushing her into a microwave and trapping her in other places.

Their sentencing had been postponed until December as risk assessments were conducted, which Judge Lord Beckett had ordered as a result of the crimes’ severity.

The eight-week-long trial heard “harrowing” evidence of systematic child sex abuse, as Lord Beckett said it “plunges to the depths of human depravity”.

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Previously, Beckett had said that he thought about imposing orders for lifelong restriction – which are deployed to monitor high-risk offenders for the remainder of their lives if they are believed to be suitable for release from prison once they had served a minimum jail term.

The offences, involving three children, occurred between 2012 and 2019.

Owens, Lannery, Brannan, Williams, Forbes, Watson and Clark were found guilty of taking part in the gang rape of a child.

Owens and Lannery were also convicted of multiple counts of assault, sexual assault, rape and causing a child to ingest drugs and alcohol, as they were both handed jail sentences of 20 and 17 years respectively.

Brannan was convicted of attempted murder, sexual assault, rape and supplying class A drugs and was jailed for 15 years.

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