Justice for girl, 9, who was raped 40 years ago

McCuaig had three other victims

A paedophile who sexually abused three young sisters and their cousin in Coatbridge more than 40 years ago has been jailed for eight years.

Samuel McCuaig’s victims had been abused by men who passed them around an organised paedophile ring.

The 58- year- old escaped prosecution for offences committed in the 1970s because of a lack of evidence.

McCuaig was convicted of raping a nine-year-old girl, a cousin of his other three victims, at a house in Coatbridge in 1976.

Sentencing McCuaig at the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Armstrong told him: “Three of your victims were aged between seven and 10 when you abused them.The fourth girl was 16.

“These offences are of a particularly grievous nature.

“According to the background report prepared you lack insight into the impact of your actions on the victims and display ‘little if any remorse’.”

McCuaig was also found guilty of indecently assaulting an “intellectually challenged” teenage girl at a house in the town between 1975 and 1978.

Formerly of Coatbridge, but now living in Devon, McCuaig was acquitted of two charges of raping the older girl prior to April 1974, when she was aged between 13 and 15. The jury at the High Court in Livingston returned not proven verdicts.

He was found guilty of using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices towards one of the sisters between 1975 and 1979.

His victim was aged just seven when McCuaig and other men started abusing her.

McCuaig had denied all the charges but the jury took less than two hours to return majority verdicts, finding him guilty of four serious sex offences.

Advocate depute Lisa Gillespie told the jury: “These girls were subjected to horrific sexual abuse by men.

“Although the details are not exactly the same, they are closely connected.

“All of these incidents are properly seen as one big crime with four main witnesses.”

In 1994 McCuaig’s father Peter was found guilty of 17 charges relating to offences between 1964 and 1979.

These included nine convictions for rape and he was sentenced to 6½ years in prison.

One girl was raped when she was just eight and another was sexually assaulted when she was only six years old.

Two of McCuaig’s uncles pled guilty to similar charges and were also given lengthy prison sentences.

Defence QC Derek Ogg said that McCuaig maintains his innocence, adding: “He was brought up in a dysfunctional, permissive environment.”

McCuaig was placed on the sex offenders’ register.

You lack insight into the impact of your actions and display little remorse Lord Armstrong

Jailed McCuaig has been sentenced to eight years