Paedophile rugby star dies owing victims compo
Sick perv left sufferers in limbo over payouts
A SCOTLAND rugby star exposed as a paedophile has died still owing a massive compensation payout to his victims.
Norman Pender was convicted in 2014 for sexually abusing two girls over an 11-year period, beginning when they were aged eight and nine.
Pender, who played four times for Scotland in the late 70s, died from a suspected heart attack this week. He was 73.
The two women who endured his sick abuse launched a legal action against the wealthy pervert and detailed their suffering in a compensation court hearing.
During that 2018 case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, one victim said: “I still have nightmares to this day.”
One victim sued Pender for £500,000 and the other sought £150,000. A judge found him liable for the abuse and agreed he should pay compensation – with the exact amount due to be decided later.
A source close to the case confirmed payouts were due to be settled soon but victims will now have to pursue compensation due to them from Pender’s estate.
The prop forward, an ex-Lib Dem councillor on Scottish Borders Council, preyed on the girls in Hawick, where he owned a large house. He abused his first victim from the age of eight until she was 19. He started abusing the second in 1996 when she was nine, attacking her between 10 and 15 times over the course of a year.
Pender was found guilty of three charges of lewd and libidinous behaviour and one of sexual assault and sentenced. A charge of raping one of the girls was found not proven.
He denied the rape allegation but told a social worker he had consensual sex with a girl when she was over 16.
Pender was released from prison in 2016 after three years in jail.
The Record tracked him down in 2017 and he said: “Prisoners can be released on parole half way into their sentence and every prisoner gets out after two-thirds. That’s the law.”
Asked if he now admitted his guilt, Pender didn’t comment.