NEIL DIVERS FROM PETERHEAD RECEIVES LIFETIME RESTRICTION ORDER AFTER DECADES OF CHILD OFFENSES
In a significant legal development, Neil Divers, a man with a long history of offending against children, has been subjected to a lifelong restriction order following his recent sentencing at the High Court in Edinburgh.Divers, aged 59 and hailing from Peterhead, has been recognized by the court as an incorrigible offender whose predatory behavior spanned over three decades.
He was sentenced to a minimum of 20 months in prison, with the court explicitly stating that he will remain under supervision for the remainder of his life.
The court emphasized that Divers will only be released when authorities determine he no longer poses a threat to the public, and he would be returned to incarceration if he reoffends.
The case was further complicated by Divers' nine-month detention period prior to sentencing, during which he was held in custody awaiting trial for a sexual assault on an 18-year-old who was asleep at the time.
Divers admitted to the assault, which occurred in April of the previous year, at the victim’s residence following a night of heavy drinking.
Additionally, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct for sending the young man a letter offering money in exchange for sexual acts.
Judge Lord Philip, presiding over the case, imposed a lifelong restriction order after considering the defendant’s extensive criminal history.
The court was informed that Divers had previously been jailed for four years in May 2003 for multiple offenses against children, some dating back to the 1970s.
Despite previous attempts to control his behavior, Divers continued to pose a significant risk.
In 2007, Grampian Police secured a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) aimed at restricting Divers’s movements and activities, including a curfew to keep him indoors when children were likely to be present.
Nevertheless, the court heard that Divers had breached this order on five separate occasions since its implementation, including a breach within hours of his release from custody.
Evidence indicated that he exploited meetings with social workers to pass by primary schools or observe vulnerable children attending a family care centre.
During an earlier hearing, sentencing was deferred to allow for a comprehensive investigation into the risks Divers posed.
Judge Lord Philip remarked at that time, “Your record indicates to me that you are incorrigible.
In other words, nothing seems to be able to stop you from offending in this way.” The court’s background reports, which provided detailed insights into Divers’s criminal history and mental health issues, ultimately supported the decision to impose the lifelong restriction order.
Defense lawyer Shahid Latif described the letter Divers sent to the Peterhead teenager as “rather infantile” and acknowledged that Divers had ongoing mental health problems.
However, he emphasized that he did not seek to diminish the severity of Divers’s actions, which the court recognized as grossly unacceptable and indicative of a persistent pattern of offending.
