December 2009 Man jailed for raping boys A man who raped two boys has been jailed for eight years for what a judge branded a “cold and calculated” campaign of sexual abuse. Mark Lindsay, 45, attacked the youngsters after befriending them while lodging at their homes around 20 years ago. One of his victims was so traumatised he set himself on fire to try and escape the horror. Lindsay returned to the High Court in Glasgow for sentencing after being convicted of the attacks. Judge Michael O’Grady QC told him: “This was a dreadful course of sexual abuse. It was a cold and calculated campaign of self gratification. You used, abused and manipulated (the victims). It is hard to imagine that they will fully recover from that.” The family of one of the victims shouted abuse inside the court as Lindsay was led to the cells. Lindsay first pounced on one of the boys, then aged 13, during a camping trip to the Campsie Hills. The abuse continued for two more years until the victim’s mother found Lindsay in her son’s bed. He claimed that he was there “for a heat”. The father-of-one also attacked an eight-year-old while staying at the youngster’s home in Carntyne area of Glasgow. He was eventually reported in 2003, but it was six years before the allegations came to court. The older of the victims spoke out after the trial in a bid to encourage others who may have been victims, to come forward. He told how he had previously tried to take his own life by dousing himself in petrol and setting it alight. He said: “One day after  my 17th birthday, he came into my room while I was there with my first girlfriend and took my ghetto blaster. It was as if he was jealous or afraid I would tell her. “I ran round the back of the house and he smashed it up in front of me. I picked up a shovel and smashed him over the head. I ran to the nearest garage, bought some petrol, went home, poured it over my head and set myself on fire. “My dad put the flames out with his bare hands. He was in hospital for days but I escaped with singed hair and a few burns. I was still too ashamed to tell him why I had done it and kept it secret until he died.” Judge O’Grady told Lindsay that he was concerned he had shown no remorse for his victims and instead displayed “contempt”. He said: “In each case you began the abuse by getting acceptance and lodgings in the family home. You repaid that by preying on them sexually.”