Child sex predator jailed for 10 years

At the High Court in Edinburgh, Judge Lord Beckett was told that Ewan Peddie continued to maintain his innocence, despite being convicted of sexual offences against two young boys.

But the judge told Peddie the crimes he committed were "very serious examples of the abuse of young and vulnerable children".

The judge said he had groomed one victim and took advantage of the illness of the mother of another child.

Peddie, formerly of Hawick, was found guilty of the offences following a two-day trial at the court last year.

After he was found guilty by a jury, Peddie called out: "Shame on you," and asked: "How did they come to those verdicts."

One victim, now aged 22, said that the child molester preyed on him when he was aged "around five or six" at a house in Hawick.

He later spoke to detectives and told the court: "He said if I told anybody he would kill me.

"I don't think I would have been able to forgive myself if I hadn't spoken to the police."

The court heard that in 2013, Peddie raped a boy then aged 10 at an address in the Borders.

His mother said that the boy had "a severe learning disability".

Following Peddie's conviction for the two offences, the case was adjourned until today, for the preparation of a background report and he watched the sentencing proceedings via a video link to jail.

His counsel Victoria Dow said: "He maintains the position he had at trial, which is one of denial."

She said Peddie had suffered "a very poor upbringing".

The defence counsel said that the benefit claimant did have previous convictions, but the matters currently before the court were his first "contact" sexual offences.

Peddie's criminal record includes convictions for assault, possessing indecent images of children and breaching a court-imposed sexual offences prevention order.

Lord Beckett told Peddie that he recognised that he had not been convicted in the High Court before and that the offences he was dealing with occured some years ago.

The judge ordered that Peddie should be kept under supervision for a further seven-year period as a public protection measure.

He told him that if he failed to comply with licence conditions during that time he could be returned to prison.

Lord Beckett told Peddie that he would be placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.