Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Pervert ex-councillor Fagan is spared jail
Sent messages in relation to incest and abuse of kids
A former Ai rdr i e councillor who told an undercover detective he wanted to rape a child has avoided a jail sentence.
Perverted David Fagan, 53, used depraved online chatrooms to indulge in taboo fantasies, including having sex with a parent and a child.
The warped father- of- two spoke about his fascination with incest while talking to the undercover officer whom he believed was a London-based single mum.
A jury last month found selfconfessed porn addict Fagan guilty of sending messages in relation to incest and the abuse of children between May and August 2016.
They heard claims he had agreed to pay money to meet the woman and rape one of her children in her presence.
Disgraced Fagan told a jury he never planned to carry out the rape but did fantasise about perverted sex acts.
On the charge that he had conspired to meet a 14-year-old for sex, the jury delivered a not proven verdict.
Fagan was back in the dock at Airdrie Sheriff Court last week, where, sweating profusely and dabbing nervously at his forehead, the paedophile was ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and be supervised for three years.
He has also been placed on the sex offenders’ register for three years and banned from using the internet for 12 months.
In mitigation, Fagan’s solicitor Luke O’Curry, said: “These conversations were carried out in a closed room and the website attracts people who engage in online fantasies.
“It was a very private conversation he was having and nobody could stumble upon it. This is totally different from posting comments on Facebook or Twitter.”
He continued: “He is a man who should have known better and his family and friends will now suffer from the notoriety of his offending.
“This is a man of previous good character with no matters outstanding and his wife and family stand by him.
“He understands the impact his offending has had on the community and he has lost everything as a result of his fixation with online pornography which he was more than candid about in the very public forum of the jury.
“He was candid in his disappointment in himself and regrets that he had allowed matters to get out of hand.”
Mr O’Curry said Fagan had racked up huge debts and was now living on benefits.
He added: “He served the community well as an elected councillor and provided for his family.
“But now he is on benefits of £147 per fortnight and is in debt to the amount of £26,000.
“He’s lost everything as a result of this.”
Sheriff Frank Pieri said: “The jury acquitted you of the serious charge on the indictment and therefore accepted that you did not intend to carry out the vile acts that you sent in messages.
“They accepted your defence that you were simply carrying out a fantasy.
“The messages contravene the basic standards of society but the punishments for that are very restrictive and had you been charged with that alone you would have been prosecuted on a summary complaint.
“Taking everything into account I can deal with this by a direct alternative to custody.
“You have been the author of your own downfall.”
Since his conviction, there have been calls for Fagan’s image to be removed from an iconic mural at Hillhead subway station in Glasgow’s west end.
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) has been urged to act over Alasdair Gray’s famous 40ft ceramic artwork.
Fagan was included in the work – five years before his offence – because he was instrumental in commissioning it while vice-chairman of SPT.
The sex offender appears in the bottom right corner of the work, extending a hand over the west end of Glasgow, and posing next to the MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Sandra White.
Ms White has stated previously that Fagan should be removed in light of his crime.