Celtic boys coach faces jail for molesting eight
Jury finds ex-boss Cairney, 83, guilty of sexual abuse
A FORMER manager of Celtic Boys Club is facing jail after being convicted of sexually abusing teenagers.
Frank Cairney, 83, abused eight boys while running St Columba’s Boys Guild in Viewpark, Lanarkshire, and the under-16 team at Celtic Boys Club.
Cairney joined Celtic in 1971 after being asked to run the youth side by manager Jock Stein.
But he used his position to molest youngsters in a church hall, in his car and at Celtic’s Barrowfield training ground.
Cairney, of Viewpark, Lanarkshire, had denied nine charges of historic sexual abuse between 1965 and 1986.
But a jury at Hamilton Sheriff Court took just under two hours to convict him of all charges.
He is the third member of Celtic Boys Club to have been convicted of child sexual abuse this year after Jim Torbett and Gerald King. Families of some of the victims wept as the verdicts were returned, while Cairney sat motionless in the dock.
Cairney had dismissed the claims against him as ‘ludicrous’ and told the jury his time as a coach was full of ‘golden memories’.
He said: ‘I wish I knew why the boys were saying this, it is a total shock after 50 years to hear they would say that.
‘I don’t know why they are making these allegations because I was really friendly with them, some went to America with me, so I have no idea why they are making these allegations.’
In her closing speech, depute fiscal Paula Russell told jurors: ‘These eight men have come here to tell you what Frank Cairney did to them as children.
‘You heard from 60-year-old men, not teenagers, who told you that back then they all wanted to be footballers. Frank Cairney was the gatekeeper to bigger and better things.
‘He took you on, he had people on his side in a position of power and when you went there he was very nice and a trusted member of the community, a football coach extraordinaire. With the position of power that offered, these boys didn’t speak out about what happened to them because who would believe that about big Frank?
‘This is not about religion or the name of the club above the door but about a man who used his position of power to abuse boys in his care.’
Sheriff Daniel Kelly, QC, paid tribute to the men for coming forward, saying Cairney’s ‘day of reckoning’ had finally come.
He said: ‘What was striking about their evidence was it seemed as vivid to them as if it occurred yesterday and I recognise how difficult it must have been for them to relive that moment under public scrutiny.’
He added: ‘You frequently brought up some of the great names in Scottish football and it should be made clear that even though they knew you their reputation should not be besmirched, because they had no knowledge of your offending.’
Sheriff Kelly called for reports and deferred sentence until January, warning Cairney: ‘You should ready yourself for all options at the sentencing hearing.’
Cairney was bailed and added to the sex offenders’ register.