Paedophile driven out of home by vigilantes

Derek Jones' windows were smashed

Derek Jones was forced to flee his home in Dalkeith after the windows of his flat were smashed and he was subjected to intimidation.

The 39-year-old has been moved to a secret location along with his mother after being collected from the quiet residential estate by protection officers.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this month he was convicted of taking close-up pictures of boys as young as five on the Royal Mile during last year's Edinburgh Festival.

Sheriff Kenneth Maciver said it was "uninvited photography of children".

Jones is currently awaiting sentence while background reports are carried out.

Local residents became aware of his offences when, after the verdict, it emerged he was already subject to a strict sexual offences prevention order which bans him from contacting children under 16 and using the internet.

Jones had been living with his elderly mother in close proximity to two dozen youngsters at Shadepark Gardens for two years.

In the short time between the attack on May 5 and when he was whisked away the following week, neighbours collected hundreds of names on a petition demanding he be evicted, although there is no suggestion that they were involved in the attacks on his home.

Angie Clarke, 42, who lives in the street with granddaughter, Katelyn, six, organised the petition. She said: "He's a scumbag for doing the things he has done. It's disgusting.

"I think it's unfair we did not know. We would have watched out more for our kids. Now he's going to land on someone else's doorstep. I would like to see him put somewhere where there are no children."

A former neighbour of Jones, who asked not to be named, said he was shocked to discover he had allowed the man close access to his own children.

The neighbour said: "He began to speak to my young son and was giving him toy cars and Hearts football club stuff. He sometimes gave my youngest daughter things as well but always knocked the door and asked first.

"After a while he would just speak to them on his own and give them things."

The father said his children would also see Jones looking out at them from behind his curtains while they played.

Adele Gibson, 24, who lives in the street with her son Ryan, six, added: "I was furious when I found out. All the boys here play on a grass area, which he was looking straight on to from his home."He would sit out in his garden all day."

A Midlothian Council spokesman said he could not comment on individual cases but said public safety was of paramount importance, adding: "There are robust processes and procedures in place to manage sex offenders."

Dalkeith councillor Margot Russell confirmed Jones had left the street. "He was moved on by the local authority," she said.