Policeman denies rape of sisters 36 years ago

A POLICE sergeant swore to a jury yesterday that allegations he had raped two girls as a teenager were "absolutely untrue".

Paul Greig, 51, said he had endured "18 months of hell" since being accused of abusing the sisters while babysitting them 36 years ago.

He told the High Court in Edinburgh he had been held in custody overnight after being charged, and remained suspended from his post as an officer with Lothian and Borders Police.

"I have only had one sexual partner, and that's my wife," said Greig. He denied giving perjured evidence and insisted: "I have never lied in court."

The sisters have alleged that in the mid-1970s, when they were aged seven and nine, and Greig was 14, he babysat them on a number of occasions and repeatedly bathed them and touched them indecently, and had sex with them.

They said they had believed his threats that if they told anyone, their father would go to jail and they would be put in a home. It was not until last year that they reported Greig to the police.

Greig, of Armadale, West Lothian, told the court he was a grandfather, and had worked as an engineer in a colliery and a tyre factory before joining the police in 1993. He was promoted to sergeant ten years later.

The trial continues.