Eight Paedophile Ring Members Found Guilty

A group of eight men, believed to have formed Scotland's largest paedophile network, have been found guilty of child abuse and pornography charges.

The men were found guilty on Thursday at the High Court in Edinburgh, of a catalogue of shocking crimes, ranging from the abuse of infants to holding more than 125,000 images of child pornography following a 10-week trial.

Those convicted included a respected youth leader - who had met the Queen and Tony Blair - a Church of Scotland elder and a civil servant, were among those found guilty of the abuse charges.

Neil Strachan, 41, was found guilty of attempted rape of an 18-month-old boy, while James Rennie, 38, was convicted of sexually abusing a three-month-old baby.

The Edinburgh men, along with three others, were also found guilty of conspiring to get access to children to abuse them.

Ross Webber, a 27-year-old bank clerk, Craig Boath, 24, an insurance worker, John Milligan, 40, a civil servant, Colin Slaven a 23-year-old IT worker, Neil Campbell, 46, church elder and John Murphy, a 44-year-old former teacher, were convicted of various charges.

Rennie, the chief executive of advice centre LGBT Youth Scotland, and Strachan were convicted of sex attacks on children.

Strachan – who was diagnosed HIV positive in June 2007 - had previously been jailed in 1997 for abusing a boy.

The pair, along with Webber, Boath and Milligan, were also found guilty of conspiring to abuse children.

Meanwhile Campbell was cleared of conspiracy charges after the jury found the case against him was not proven.

All eight men were convicted of possessing and making indecent images and seven of them were found to have distributed images.

A charge of distribution against Slaven was withdrawn by the Crown.

During the distressing trial, the images were found to be so graphic the court had to be cleared to the public and media, while counselling for the jurors after the case was considered.

In statements issued on behalf of the families of the abused children, the mother of the child referred to in court as Child JL said: "The anguish I feel towards Mr Strachan is indescribable.

"I will never be able to forgive him for the sick acts that he committed against my son.

"I feel that no matter what punishment given to Mr Strachan it will never be able to compensate for the hurt, devastation and great deal of stress brought to me and my family."

The family of Child F also said: "For over 15 years James Rennie seemed the closest of family friends, and it is hard to put into words the extent of the betrayal he has exacted upon us, as many of the details may identify our family and son.

"To subsequently learn that he abused our son, and invited others to do the same, has been devastating."

All eight men are to be sentenced at a later date.

(JM/BMcC)