HURLFORD MAN EWEN LAIRD ESCAPES JAIL AFTER ADMITTING CHILD ABUSE IN FORFAR

In April 2019, Ewen Laird, an 81-year-old resident of Mauchline Road, Hurlford, was spared imprisonment after confessing to child abuse that occurred over five decades ago. The offenses took place when Laird was in his 20s and involved a boy under the age of 13 in Forfar, Angus. The incidents remained unreported until the victim, who was then 60, confronted Laird during a telephone call, suggesting he should go to the police to confess.

The victim only decided to come forward after demanding that Laird take responsibility; it was this insistence that led him to report the abuse to authorities. The court heard that Laird exploited the boy on multiple occasions over a five-year period. Fiscal depute Charmaine Gilmartin explained to the court that when the boy learned Laird planned to visit his family in Forfar, he would try to avoid him by staying overnight with friends.

Mrs. Gilmartin noted: “The complainer knew it was wrong and tried to stop it happening. He never spoke about the abuse.” In June 2014, the victim phoned Laird and told him he should report himself to the police. When Laird did not act on this advice, the victim eventually reported the crimes to the police at Forfar Police Station, leading to Laird’s arrest at his home.

Laird pled guilty to charges of lewd, indecent, and libidinous practices towards the boy, who was between nine and 13 years old at the time, with the incidents spanning from 1963 to 1968 at a house in Forfar. Sheriff Alastair Carmichael sentenced Laird to a community payback order with three years of supervision and registered him as a sex offender for three years.

Addressing Laird, the sheriff stated: “These were contact offences and I’d normally be looking at a custodial sentence for a contemporaneous offence in the region of 18 months. You are now 81 and it is in excess of 50 years since these offences took place. You have no previous convictions. The length of time that has passed between them and today and your lack of convictions in the meantime allow me to go down a non-custodial route.”