Notorious paedophile has prison sentence cut by seven years

A LEADER of Scotland's worst paedophile ring has had his minimum jail term almost halved to nine years by appeal judges.

Neil Strachan, 43, was to have served at least 16 years before he could apply for parole, but the Court of Criminal Appeal decided that the sentence, a record for its type, should be slashed.

Strachan had been able to benefit partially from a controversial ruling by the Court of Criminal Appeal earlier this year, under which other dangerous sex offenders have also had their sentences cut.

However, the main reasons for the reduction in his case were that part of his conviction had been overturned, and the appeal judges believed the sentencing judge had been too severe.

Strachan, of Dalry, Edinburgh, stood trial in 2009, with seven other men, and was found guilty of a series of offences that included indecency towards two baby boys, one a year old and the other 18 months.

The trial judge, Lord Bannatyne, described the crimes as "wholly dreadful" and imposed an "order for lifelong restriction" on Strachan, who had previous convictions for child sex offences. It enables him to be detained indefinitely and, if released, he remains liable to be recalled to prison for the rest of his life. The judge said Strachan would serve 16 years, known as the "punishment part", before becoming eligible for parole.

Strachan appealed against his conviction and in January this year the appeal court decided that, while Strachan and a co-accused, James Rennie, 40, had plotted to abuse the one-year-old boy, there was no evidence that Strachan had been involved in any actual abuse.

A part of the conviction, which stated that he and Rennie had used lewd conduct towards the boy, was removed. It was also held that Strachan should have been convicted of plotting only with Rennie, and not with others in the ring, as the jury had decided.

Yesterday, at Strachan's appeal against his sentence, the defence solicitor-advocate, John Keenan, said the sentencing judge, in fixing the punishment part, had worked from a starting point of 24 years. Mr Keenan argued: "That can properly be said to be excessive."

Under a formula then in use, the figure was reduced by one-third to leave a punishment part of 16 years. However, in a ruling in March on how to set punishment parts, the appeal court said that in normal circumstances, the starting figure should be halved.

Mr Keenan said there was no reason the approach should be any different in Strachan's case.

Lord Bonomy, sitting with Lord Kingarth, said Strachan's sentence should be reviewed because his conviction had been "significantly modified" and in light of the guidance in the punishment part ruling.

The judges said sentencing was not an exact science, but they believed 15 years was an appropriate starting point.Ordinarily, the punishment part would be half that figure, but there were grounds, having regard to Strachan's other offences, for taking a different approach, and the punishment part would be set at nine years.

Earlier this week, Morris Petch, 54, of Edinburgh, who was convicted of raping two girls in the 1980s and 1990s, won an appealand had his minimum term cut from 12 to eight years.

Three weeks ago, Grant Stewart, 45, of Dundee, who raped a woman at knifepoint had a ten-year punishment part reduced to five and a half years.