Eileen McElhinney convicted of cruel treatment of children in care

EILEEN MCELHINNEY CONVICTED OF CRUEL TREATMENT OF CHILDREN IN CARE

Update 15/01/2026: Eileen McElhinney, 78, of Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, was found guilty of five charges - of assault and using cruel and unnatural treatment - towards children during her time at Nazareth House in Lasswade between 1972 and 1975.

Eileen was given a probation order and 240 hours of unpaid work over the abuse ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................

McElhinney was found guilty of five charges of assault and using cruel and unnatural treatment towards children during her time at Nazareth House in Lasswade between November 1972 and January 1975.

The 78-year-old, of Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, punched one child to the body and assaulted a second victim by uttering threats of violence to him and repeatedly struck his buttocks with a hairbrush.

The victim, now in his 60s, told the jury McElhinney had assaulted him as a child while he was a resident at Nazareth House in Lasswade.

The man said he remembered the nun as “Sister Irene” but admitted he could be wrong due to the passage of time and her name may have been Sister Eileen.