Sex offender is living next to victims

Angela Murphy 1581 - 1581 • Published 21 May 2009 14:47

A SEX offender has been allowed to live just yards from his teenage victims.

The Howwood man was recently put on two years" probation for making lewd comments about a 14-year-old schoolgirl, but was already on the Sex Offenders" register.

A source claims police lobbied for the 31-year-old pervert to be rehoused in a different area but their concerns were dismissed by a Sheriff.

When approached by The Gazette, the man claimed he had done nothing wrong and declined to comment further.

He was previously convicted for a more serious sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl living in the SAME street.

A furious local resident said: 'This man is clearly a volatile and warped individual who targets young teens with a view to sexual assault.

'He is currently living "in hiding" within a respectable private housing estate full of vulnerable children.'

Neighbours have lodged complaints with local councillors, MSP Trish Godman, director of Social Work Peter McLeod and Dorothy Hawthorne, head of Child Care and Criminal Justice, to back their campaign to get him out.

A dad-of-two who lives in the street has slammed the justice system: 'We feel that nothing is being done to get him removed from our area.

'The community is forced to remain vigilant pending further attacks by this beast.

'Where is the justice?'

A mum-of-one who lives nearby added: 'If he is on the sex offenders" register he shouldn"t be living in a street full of families with young children.

'If it was a one-off comment when he was drunk then that would be different.

'But this isn"t the first time he has done something - he"s known to everyone here and I would be worried about letting my son play alone in the street.'

Local councillor Tracie McGhee said: 'We are aware of the community"s concerns.

'But I would reassure local people that the council works closely with a range of partners, including Strathclyde Police and the courts, to protect the community from people who have committed offences and been put on probation or who have completed their sentence and been released from prison.'

A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson added: 'We have received a complaint from a member of the public which is being investigated.

'But we would reassure the public that we take all appropriate steps, within the scope of the law, to protect them.'

'We can"t talk about individual cases but a number of general principles apply in these situations.

'A range of bodies work together to protect the public from known offenders through the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).

'These include the police, the Scottish Prison Service, local councils and health trusts.

'MAPPA has five key aims: to identify those who may pose a risk to society, to share relevant information about them, to assess the nature and extent of any risk they may present, to identify ways to manage that risk effectively and to protect victims and reduce further harm.

'Protecting the public is the core of MAPPA.'

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This article appeared in The Gazette 20 May 09

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