Driver jailed for seven years over attacks on boys

A LORRY driver who subjected young boys to sexual abuse nearly four decades ago was jailed for seven years.

David Philips, 57, preyed on the children between 1974 and 1981 when he was living in Stranraer in Wigtownshire.

A judge told Philips at the High Court in Edinburgh: “You have been convicted on your own plea of some very serious sexual offences against four boys.”

Lord Boyd of Duncansby said: “It is clear your victims did not forget what happened to them. Indeed they all believe your offending has had lasting effects on them.”

The judge said that in some cases the abuse had profoundly affected the lives of those who suffered at Philips’ hands.

Lord Boyd told Philips, formerly of Ramsey, in the Isle of Man, that he would have jailed him for eight years but for his guilty pleas.

He told him that he would be placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely. Philips earlier pled guilty to sex crimes against the boys aged between five and 12 who were all left traumatised by the abuse. He admitted four offences of indecency against the children.

The abuse happened at a number of locations in Stranraer, including on a boat moored in the harbour.