• Seven members of a Glasgow-based paedophile ring were sentenced to lifelong restrictions for sexual abuse, with convictions for drug offences & attempted murder.
• The disturbing silence from certain figures raises questions about whether they view these crimes as less abhorrent simply because the perpetrators belong to a different race and religion.
Members of one of Scotland’s largest paedophile rings have been sentenced to lifelong restrictions after operating a “monstrous” child sex abuse ring in a Glasgow drug den.
An Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR)—a life sentence reserved for the gravest non-homicide cases in Scotland—was imposed on all seven perpetrators. During a two-month trial at the High Court in Glasgow in 2023, it emerged that three children were subjected to horrific abuse, regularly exposed to Class A drugs, alcohol, violence, and sexual exploitation.
The jury heard chilling accounts of “rape nights” orchestrated by the heroin-addicted offenders
The victims, who referred to the location of their torment as the “beastie house,” recounted attackers laughing after heinous sexual assaults, some of which involved money changing hands.
Judge Lord Beckett described the trial as “unpleasant and shocking” and stated: “It plunges to the depths of human depravity.”
Sentencing the Perpetrators
Seven individuals were found guilty of multiple counts of rape and sexual assault:
• Iain Owens (minimum 20 years)
• Elaine Lannery (17 years)
• Lesley Williams (14 years)
• Paul Brannan (15 years)
• Scott Forbes (8 years)
• Barry Watson (9.5 years)
• John Clark (10 years)
In addition to their crimes of sexual abuse, Owens, Lannery, Williams, and Brannan were also convicted of attempting to murder a child by trapping them in places such as a cupboard and a microwave.
Owens, Williams, and Brannan faced further convictions for drug offences.
All seven were placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely. Should they ever be paroled after serving the “punishment part” of their sentences, they will remain under lifelong risk management and face immediate recall to prison if they reoffend.
Sentencing the group, Lord Beckett warned: “What you—and the community—should understand is that you may never be released.”He continued: “Such extreme abuse of children is beyond my experience… This is not typical behaviour. Such extreme abuse of children seems to be rare.”
Further Details
An eighth individual, Marianne Gallagher, was convicted of assault for physically attacking a child and had her sentence deferred for a year for good behaviour. However, Gallagher, who showed “no remorse” and continues to struggle with addiction, was warned by the judge: “If you offend further, you will find yourself in pretty severe trouble.”
Three other individuals—Mark Carr, Richard Gachagan, and Leona Laing—were acquitted of all charges.
The offences, which took place between 2012 and 2019, included exposing children to seances and witchcraft. Charges relating to these activities were ultimately dropped by prosecutors, as were accusations of killing dogs.
Impact and Investigative Challenges
Matt Forde, the NSPCC’s development director, described the case as “truly shocking” and added: “You can only imagine the terror and miserable existence that these children had.”
Detective Inspector Lesley-Ann McGee, who led the investigation, stated: “This was a long, complex, and challenging investigation for a team of officers and staff who had to work through the most harrowing evidence to bring those responsible for these despicable crimes to justice. I hope today’s outcome can help the young victims in moving forward.”
Police Scotland pursued over 1,000 lines of inquiry during the investigation, which uncovered one of the most egregious child abuse cases in the nation’s history.
The silence of the Far-right when the perpetrators are the wrong skin colour and religion
A fundamental question emerges: where are figures such as Elon Musk, Nigel Farage, and the Conservative Party in the face of such a heinous crime? Does the ethnicity or religion of the perpetrators in any way mitigate the abhorrent nature of child sexual abuse? Child abuse, regardless of the perpetrator’s race or religion is utterly reprehensible and its severity should never be diminished. Every child, no matter their race or creed, deserves absolute protection and must be shielded from harm at all costs.
The reticence to speak up from certain factions of society, particularly when the perpetrators are white, further evidences the Islamophobic and racially charged nature of the far-right agenda. This, coupled with the widespread fabrication and distortion of facts in the mainstream media regarding the scale of “Muslim-Pakistani grooming” in the U.K. further exposes the exploitation of the issue and the politicisation of the suffering endured by the victims.
Former prosecutor in the Rochdale case, Nazir Afzal, a Muslim of Pakistani descent, has long argued that society fails to fully comprehend the extent of child abuse, frequently underestimating its prevalence. “The issues centre not upon race but upon crime, upon predators and their prey and the difficulties of eking out evidence for these ‘hidden’ crimes..” he said.
NSPCC research reveals that one in twenty children in the UK have been subjected to abuse. Furthermore, it is evident that the perpetrators of such abhorrent crimes are not predominately Muslim-Pakistanis.
Additionally, since 2022, none of the vital recommendations put forth by Alexis Jay (in the 2014 Jay report) to combat abuse have been enacted, highlighting a troubling lack of political will and urgency in addressing this systemic issue.
