Man is facing jail term for sex attack on boy, 8, in pub toilet

A MAN who subjected an eight-year-old boy to a sexual assault in a pub toilet is facing jail.

Graham Murray, 38, followed the schoolboy into the toilets at the JD Wetherspoon Wishaw Malt pub in the Lanarkshire town.

While the boy was in the toilet cubicle, Murray banged on the door and demanded to be let in. The child told him no but then opened the door and the pervert forced his way in.

Murray then attempted to kiss the boy, touched him inappropriately and uttered disgusting sexual remarks.

The attack was only stopped when quantity surveyor Stephen Todd entered and panicked Murray told him he was the boy’s father before fleeing.

Mr Todd took the boy back to his horrified grandmother, told her her grandson had been sexually assaulted and police were called. Murray, of Wishaw, had gone on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court and denied the attack in November 2015, forcing the boy to give evidence against him.

However, the boy’s family sobbed as a jury took just half an hour to convict him of the crime.

Sheriff Alasdair MacFadyen then remanded Murray in custody, saying bail was no longer appropriate because he had been found guilty of a “very serious sexual offence”.

Speaking after the verdict, the boy’s mother said: “Our son can sleep easy knowing the beast that attacked him has been found guilty. We can’t thank the people enough who helped and supported him, especially the man who actually helped him at the time of the attack.”

Murray was placed on the sex offenders’ register and will be sentenced next month.