Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NAILED FROM THE GRAVE..
Victim led police to vile predator who used top Celtic Boys Club to recruit prey
YESTERDAY
and at the pervert’s Glasgow flat.
Jurors heard Torbett would drop him from the team when the then teenager did not agree to his sick
demands.
The ex-boys’ club player went on to borrow cash from Torbett after falling into debt. But he told police: “I did not have the money to pay him back – then I decided, ‘F*** him’. I was not going to pay him back because of what he had done to me. I also did not want to see or speak to the man ever again.”
Another victim, now 46, told jurors how he played for Celtic Boys’ Club aged 14. He said Torbett had been his “hero” and that he would have “run through walls for him”.
Torbett preyed on that to abuse the then teenager. The man said Torbett attacked him on a Celtic Boys’ Club trip to Noyon in France.
The witness told the trial: “I was in my bed in a dormitory. Jim Torbett was standing there with a shirt and underpants on.
“He proceeded to do a striptease. He took his shirt off and was dancing.”
The man said Torbett – who kept his pants on – was moving the shirt back and forwards between his legs.
The pervert then summoned him to his room and abused him.
The final victim, now 35, did not play for the boys’ club.
He was abused at the Trophy Centre business that Torbett ran in Pollokshaws, Glasgow.
The witness – as young as five at the time – was attacked while on his own with Torbett.
He told the trial: “I was instructed by Mr Torbett to take my shorts and underwear down. He stood looking at me for a while. It seemed like ages. He said everything was fine then left the room.”
This victim also said he was molested as Torbett apparently checked his homework. Prosecutor Sheena Fraser said the beast had been guilty of “systematic abuse”.
It was in 1998 he was first convicted of abusing young players from Celtic Boys’ Club. He was jailed for two years for preying on three boys between 1967 and 1974.
Yesterday, Torbett was also put on the sex offenders’ list.
A spokesman for children’s charity NSPCC Scotland said: “Torbett was in a position of trust but exploited it appallingly to carry out a series of sickening attacks over a period of years.
“Abuse ruins childhoods and its effects last into adulthood. Torbett’s victims have shown incredible bravery in coming forward to help make sure he has finally faced justice for his crimes, showing once again that anyone who has suffered child sexual abuse will be listened to, regardless of how many years have passed.”