MONSTER WHO PUT BOY, 2, IN A CAGE WALKS FREE
Serial abuser Claire Boyle avoids prison sentence for ‘alarming case of child neglect’
SERIAL child abuser Claire Boyle yesterday dodged a jail term – despite keeping a toddler in a makeshift cage.
Child welfare charity NSPCC Scotland branded her crime an “alarming case of child neglect”.
A SERIAL child abuser who kept a toddler in a makeshift cage has avoided prison for what was branded an “alarming case of child neglect”.
Claire Boyle also neglected a starving four-year-old so badly doctors feared he had cancer.
The abuse only came to light after the desperate older boy, who was covered in bruises, escaped from a flat through a window.
But, despite it being her third child neglect conviction, a sheriff yesterday decided community work was “a more appropriate” sentence for the 34-year-old and her co-accused partner Timothy Johnstone, 57, who are both from Newmilns in Ayrshire.
The sick actions of the couple where criticised by children’s charity NSPCC Scotland.
A spokesman said: “Between them, Boyle and Johnstone failed to meet the basic needs of two children in what is an alarming case of child neglect.
“It’s a stark reminder that children are entirely reliant on the adults around them for their care and support.”
Last night, the sentence was criticised by a source close to the case. They said: “The sentences are an absolute disgrace. Those wee boys have been damaged for life and this is her third offence.
“They both deserve to be in jail – there are people in jail who have done far less.”
Boyle and Johnstone denied they’d done anything wrong, with Boyle claiming she’d trapped the toddler in the modified cot – which had a wooden frame strapped over the top – for the child’s protection.
But a sheriff saw through their lies and convicted them over the catalogue of abuse last month after a trial at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court.
As he spared them jail, Sheriff Michael Higgins said: “In my judgment, it is better for you, and for the wider community at large, that the court continues to maintain a supervision on you and monitors you and your cooperation with a community based disposal over a longer period of time. That is a more appropriate way of dealing with you in this case than a custodial sentence would be.”
The community payback orders will see them both supervised by social workers for 18 months with Boyle having to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and Johnstone required to do 180 hours.
In 2014, Boyle was convicted after being found comatose on a couch while under the influence of drink or drugs with a distressed baby at her feet. In 2015, she was convicted after being caught trying to sell a baby for £1million on a high street.
Giving evidence in the trial, Police Constable Adam Peppard said: “[The boy] was within the makeshift cot – the bottom of the cot had been removed and strapped to the top to stop the child getting out. It was turned into a very risky cage.
“She [Boyle] started blaming it on the other child. She said it was ‘all his fault’.
“She stated he was able to open the window and let himself out.”
Dr Christine Findlay, a consultant paediatrician with NHS Ayrshire and Arran, said the boy had so many bruises doctors feared he may have an “underlying medical c ondition which predisposed the child to bleeding – a blood disorder, like haemophilia or leukemia”.
The couple were cleared of claims they also neglected a baby. A charge alleging they’d assaulted the older boy was withdrawn during the trial.
Sheriff Higgins convicted Boyle of neglecting the twoyear-old and four-year-old children, and Johnstone of neglecting the four-year-old alone. South Ayrshire Council and East Ayrshire Council are conducting a significant case review into the social work department’s handling of the case.