‘Danger to public’ sex fiend jailed for good

BY DAVE FINLAY A SERIAL sex offender who attacked two schoolgirls just after his release from jail was locked up indefinitely yesterday.

Michael Harlow, 26, had been banned from contacting children when he bought alcohol for girls in Cowdenbeath before indecently assaulting a 14-year-old.

Less than a fortnight later in Dunfermline he grabbed a 15-year-old schoolgirl and tried to take her down an alley.

The teenager earlier told his trial: “I just kept screaming and kicking him.”

Harlow has five convictions for sex offenders’ register rules and three for breaching sexual harm orders.

Yesterday, judge Lord Uist imposed an order for lifelong restriction on Harlow and told him: “That constitutes a sentence of imprisonment for an indefinite period.”

A psychiatrist’s report on Harlow concluded he was likely “to seriously endanger the public”.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that in February last year, Harlow was asked by teenagers to buy them drink.

They told him they were all aged between 13 and 15 but he walked with them until they split up and targeted one of them.

Before the second assault, Harlow followed the victim and a pal on to a bus and chatted to them.

Next day, he messaged the victim, who later met up with friends and Harlow.

He “touched up” her companions and dragged the victim away before she managed to break free.

Harlow cannot apply for parole for at least 30 months.