Ex-policeman locked up for ‘depraved’ abuse of boys

A FORMER policeman has been jailed after using his position of trust to commit a ‘catalogue of depraved abuse’ against young boys.

Ian Jolly, 70, committed the crimes between 1987 and 1998 while coaching youth football teams.

One of his victims contacted police in December 2016 after the national football abuse scandal came to light.

At an earlier hearing, Jolly, pictured, admitted seven offences against four boys, committed at a number of locations in Aberdeenshire.

At Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday, he was locked up for 27 months and put on the sex offenders’ register for ten years.

Sheriff William Summers told Jolly: ‘What I heard about was a catalogue of depraved abuse of young boys over a long period of time. You appear to recognise that because of the gravity of these offences that there is no other appropriate disposal but a custodial sentence.’

Defence advocate David Moggach said his client had been struggling with the ‘pressures and anxieties’ of police life when he abused the boys.

He added: ‘Mr Jolly found himself in a work environment where there was a ready access to alcohol and at the time an attitude where police officers dealt with things through drink.

‘All of that conspired to allow Mr Jolly to be lost in the mist of alcohol in which these offences were committed.’

The court heard that Jolly’s family deserted him when the crimes came to light and he has been living in sheltered accommodation in Edinburgh.

The football sex abuse scandal broke in 2016, with most allegations dating from the 1970s-90s.

More than 700 alleged victims have been identified across the UK.