Predatory paedophile ’no remorse’ as he is jailed for attacks on girls as young as six

Gary Nicholson targeted four children who were molested by him at addresses in Fife, West Lothian and Stirlingshire in sex crimes spanning almost four decades. The sex offender, who has previously been convicted of sexual crimes, subjected two of the victims to rape ordeals.

Nicholson (56) denied a series of charges during a trial earlier this year but was found guilty of six offences of indecent conduct, sexual assault and rape involving four girls aged between six and 15.

His youngest victim was subjected to repeated abuse at locations in Livingston between July and December in 1981 when Nicholson was aged just 14. A second girl was aged 10 when he preyed on her at a house in Laurieston, Falkirk, and a caravan parked in a street in the Stirlingshire town between August 1993 and April 1995.

A nine-year-old girl was also subjected to abuse by him at a house in Kirkcaldy. Nicholson sexually assaulted a fourth girl at a further house in the Lang Toun when she was aged 10 between March 2015 and March 2016.

A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh that the impact of his crimes on his victims was "wide ranging and life changing".

Lady Drummond said: "You have expressed no remorse or empathy towards these children." She ordered that Nicholson, a prisoner in Perth jail, should be under supervision for a further three year period. He will be on licence in the community during that time and can be returned to prison if he breaches its conditions.

The judge heard Nicholson had "a challenging childhood" and issues with alcohol. Defence counsel Mark Stewart KC told the court that Nicholson maintained his innocence of the sexual crimes he was earlier convicted of committing. Nicholson, who followed the sentencing via a video link to prison, was placed on the sex offenders' register for an indefinite period.