DEAN MCGEACHIE SENTENCED IN BATHGATE FOR SEX OFFENCES AGAINST TWO GIRLS IN WEST LOTHIAN

In June 2016, Dean McGeachie, a known sex offender from Bathgate, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison after being convicted of serious sexual offenses involving two young girls. The heinous acts took place at his former residence in West Lothian, where he repeatedly assaulted one girl from the age of seven and the other from the age of eight, spanning a period from 2011 to 2015.

Details of the case emerged during a court hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh. The abuse was uncovered when a mother, concerned about her daughter's well-being, asked her if anyone had been touching her inappropriately. The young girl responded that she had been targeted by McGeachie and revealed that the abuse had been ongoing for as long as she could remember. This prompted her mother to seek help, leading to police involvement.

During police interviews, McGeachie, aged 57, admitted to the offenses. He explained that both victims had asked him to stop, and he sometimes complied but continued at other times. He also disclosed that the girls had been crying during the incidents. McGeachie, who worked as a lorry driver traveling extensively across the UK, had a prior conviction for a sex offense in 1992, when he was jailed for two years for abusing an 11-year-old girl.

The court heard that McGeachie described his recent offending as a “disease” that he had suppressed for years. Lord Boyd of Duncansby, presiding over the case, noted that McGeachie had been assessed as posing a moderate risk of re-offending but emphasized the serious danger he represented to young girls. The judge also reviewed a victim impact statement and letters from those affected, highlighting the profound and lasting effects of the abuse.

One of the girls became withdrawn and quiet following the abuse, while the other exhibited anger and was referred to a psychiatric nurse for support. The court acknowledged that McGeachie’s guilty plea had spared the victims the trauma of giving evidence at trial. However, Lord Boyd stated that if the case had gone to trial and he had been convicted, he would have sentenced McGeachie to ten years in prison.

In addition to his prison sentence, McGeachie was ordered to be supervised for an additional five years after his release and was placed on the sex offenders’ register, ensuring ongoing monitoring of his activities to protect the community from further harm.