Former Shetland councillor jailed for sex attacks on young girls

A former councillor and prominent businessman has been jailed for sexually assaulting two girls.

The High Court in Aberdeen, where Robert Henderson was convicted

Robert Henderson, 74, from Cullivoe, Yell, Shetland, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and placed on the sex offenders register.

He was found guilty of sexual assault charges involving two girls, dating back to the 1970s, at a hearing in March and was sentenced this week.

He was also found guilty of inappropriately touching two women in the early 1990s.

A charge that he raped a woman twice in 1990 was found not proven by a jury on a majority verdict.

Henderson was elected as a Shetland councillor in 2007 and 2012 as an independent before standing down at the last election.

Speaking in March, following his conviction, Detective Sergeant Bruce Peebles said: “Henderson’s offending stretched from the 1970s through to the 1990s, when he targeted vulnerable young girls and women within the local community.

“He abused his position as a prominent local businessman, employer and latterly as an elected local councillor to try and disguise his private behaviour with vulnerable girls and women.”