Paedophile ring warned of ‘substantial’ prison term

A child abuse ring who preyed on victims in a drugs den have been warned they face "very substantial" jail terms for "extraordinary depravity".

Three children were abused in 2012 and 2019 in a Glasgow drugs den where heroin and crack cocaine were used.

Iain Owens, 45; Elaine Lannery, 39; Lesley Williams, 41; Paul Brannan, 41; Scott Forbes, 50; Barry Watson, 47; and John Clark, 47, were convicted of a string of charges including gang rape of a child.

Co-accused Marianne Gallagher, 38, was found guilty of assaulting a child. She was bailed and had her sentence deferred until January 6, 2025.

Four of the accused Owens, Lannery, Brannan and Williams - were all convicted of attempting to murder a child by pushing her into a microwave and trapping her in other places.

Prosecutors dropped allegations of the use of an Ouija board during the eight-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow, and all the accused were found not guilty of killing dogs.

Three of those on trial: Mark Carr, 49; Richard Gachagan, 46; and Leona Laing, 51, were acquitted of all charges.

Judge Lord Beckett warned the abusers to expect a "very substantial prison sentence", for "grave and repeated" crimes.

He said the "common denominator" was the abuse of a "very young child", which all the defendants except Gallagher were convicted of.

Lord Beckett said: "Some of you have been convicted of sexually abusing three children and some of two children.

"The common denominator was the repeated sexual assault of a very young child, payment was sought and accepted, some of the events were filmed. This extraordinary depravity was repeated on a number of occasions.”