Kilmarnock Children's Care Home Sex Attacker Jailed

An Ayrshire former care worker in a children's home was jailed for 13 years today after he was convicted of a catalogue of abuse of vulnerable youngsters following the Jimmy Savile scandal.

One of Brian Newman' victims first contacted the police following the publicity surrounding the shamed paedophile DJ and broadcaster and officers traced others who had also resided at the Ayrshire institution.

A judge told Newman: "You were put in a position of trust, particularly grave trust, given the background of the children you were supposed to be looking after. You abused that trust horrendously."

Lord Glennie said that youngsters had looked to the children's home "as a place of safety".

The judge said at the High Court in Edinburgh that he had read testimonials sent to the court by family and acquaintances that paid tribute to him as "a loving, caring, family man of the highest integrity".

But he added: "It is clear there is another side to you your family and friends are not aware of."

The judge said the sentence imposed on Newman had to reflect the seriousness of the offences and "the appalling breach of trust".

The first offender, who will be 59 tomorrow, was earlier convicted of 10 charges of indecency and sexual assault against six boys who were resident in the home during the 1990s.

Newman, of Kilmarnock, in Ayrshire, had denied abusing the boys but a jury unanimously found him guilty of eight of the charges and convicted him of the further two offences on majority verdicts.

Lord Glennie told jurors at the end of the trial it had been "a distressing case".

The court heard that Newman's first victim became the catalyst for the police investigation into allegations of abuse at the home.

The boy had been aged 13 when he was at the home between October 1991 and March 1992 where Newman came into his private bedroom and molested him and made inappropriate sexual remarks.

He would try to pretend that he was asleep in the hope that Newman would go away. The court heard that he did not like what was happening to him but was scared.

Advocate depute Jane Farquharson told jurors: "It was the Jimmy Savile publicity that triggered this police investigation. That was what made him contact the police back in 2012."

"It was his report to the police that triggered this investigation and uncovered other victims of the abuse," said the prosecutor.

Some victims described how they got on well with Newman but were later left with feelings of confusion, shame and embarrassment after they were exploited by him.

With some boys there had been an escalation in the abuse moving on from touching to sex acts.

Some youngsters were given sweets and cigarettes and others were subjected to threats by the care worker.

One vulnerable youngster was molested from the age of 12 and said when he arrived at the institution he looked up to the staff like they were parents. As he neared his 13th birthday he woke up to find Newman touching him under the covers and said he froze and did not know what to do.

When he was 15 he had been drinking and was put to bed but woke up naked.

Another victim said he thought he could trust Newman as he was meant to protect the children, but said he was always "very touchy feely".

The teenager later began abusing drugs and went on a camping trip to Stirling with Newman. During it he was taking heroin and at one stage blacked out but later discovered he had blood on the back of his legs coming from his backside.

Miss Farquharson asked jurors to judge the victims as the vulnerable children they were at the time who without exception had "troubled lives".

Newman, a grandfather, who previously worked in another children's home in Ayrshire during the 1980s, said he was "hands on" but denied abusing the children.

Defence counsel Dale Hughes said Newman continued to "vehemently deny" the charges.

Mr Hughes said that among testimonials provided to the court was one saying Newman was always helping young people in the area to stay out of trouble and another spoke of his efforts helping a boys' club in in the Shortlees area of Kilmarnock.

Newman was placed on the sex offenders' register.