‘I pray my son was not one of those abused’

The father of a Celtic Boys’ Club player who was brutally murdered in 1996 yesterday spoke of his anguish at not knowing whether his son was one of Jim McCafferty’s victims.

Football starlet Lawrence haggart was aged 15 when he was bludgeoned to death and then set alight as he slept on the sofa at his home in Larbert, Stirlingshire.

McCafferty, who coached Lawrence at Celtic, was named as a potential suspect in the murder investigation but was cleared and serial paedophile Brian Beattie was later convicted.

Speaking at his home in Denny, Lawrence’s father Larry haggart said: ‘There was something very dodgy about McCafferty, it was a matter of time before this all came out.

‘he has named five victims — two of them from Celtic, and I’m left praying that my boy wasn’t one of them. he said he abused a dozen boys, hopefully not my son.’

Lawrence had been one of Scotland’s brightest young footballing prospects and was a rising star in the Celtic youth team which McCafferty helped coach.

Shortly after he was murdered in March 1996, McCafferty quit his role at Celtic and fled to Northern Ireland after allegations of sexual abuse surfaced.

Mr haggart said: ‘he left Celtic around the time my boy was killed. Somebody had phoned or sent a letter to Celtic Football Club telling them about the abuse. I think it was John Gaffney, the young boy who went on to kill himself.

‘McCafferty flatly denied the allegations and I had to believe him. At that time I had enough on my plate and he was doing a lot for us — he was running the football team Lawrence’s friends were in and was supporting them.’

A police report which came to light in 2005 revealed that McCafferty had been probed in connection with Lawrence’s murder and that the coach regularly visited the haggart’s home, even phoning the house on the day the 15-year-old was killed.

Mr haggart, 56, said the family were informed by police during the investigation that McCafferty was a murder suspect. ‘We were never told why he was suspected but obviously we knew he was a dodgy character and the police knew about the other allegations,’ he said.

‘he would come round to the house and drop Lawrence off after football. I believe he rang on the day Lawrence was murdered. he was the kitman at Celtic at the time and Lawrence used to go to watch games with him. I think he was phoning up to see if Lawrence was going to the game on the Saturday.’

While Mr haggart said he never trusted McCafferty, he was not aware of the full extent of the 71-year-old’s abuse until yesterday morning when he read his confession.

‘I saw his interview — he is speaking as if he was confessing out of the goodness of his heart. he’s saying he can now sleep at night, but I don’t know how. he should not be free. he needs to be locked up.’

In 1998, Brian Beattie, 54, was handed a life sentence for murdering Lawrence. Police were criticised for mishandling the investigation, including initially focusing on Lawrence’s brothers Denis and John, who were aged 12 and 16, as murder suspects.

‘The police bungled the investigation at the time,’ said Mr haggart. ‘I remember they sat in my living room and told me it was my oldest lad that had killed Lawrence. We were brought up to trust the police but after that it was hard.

‘Beattie was up for parole again a few weeks ago but was denied it thank God. It would be my worst nightmare to see him back on the streets. he needs to stay locked up.’