Victims to sue rugby abuser
A forme r rugby international who abused children is being sued by his victims.
Ex-Hawick prop forward Norman Pender – capped four times for Scotland in the 1970s – was jailed in 2014 for six years after attacking two girls.
Judge Lord Stewart told him: “This is a terrible fall from grace. These were innocent victims and you were in a position of trust.
“It is important to put these matters on record because it seems that there is a belief in certain quarters that you are completely innocent and that the victims have made up wicked stories about you from twisted motives.”
Now the 70- year- old’s victims, who suffered sexual assaults between the ages of eight and nine, have launched a six-figure personal injury claim against the ex-pro at Edinburgh’s Court of Session.
The case is due to be heard in May and both victims are being represented by Glasgow-based firm Digby Brown.
Pender was found guilty of three charges of lewd and libidinous behaviour at the High Court in Paisley.
He preyed on the girls between April 1986 and October 1997 in Hawick, Roxburghshire.
Pender abused his first victim from the age of eight unt il she was 19 and attacked the second girl between 10 and 15 times in 1996 when she was nine. He refused to comment. Digby Brown did not respond to our request for a comment.