Mechanic who preyed on young girls faces jail

Norman Gartshore preyed on one girl from the age of nine while still a schoolboy and his abuse escalated into having sex with her while she was sleeping when she was a teenager.

The victim also witnessed him molesting her younger friend when she was aged between five and seven years old.

Unemployed motor engineer Gartshore (53) admitted that he had touched the older girl on three occasions on the back, leg and bottom but denied that his behaviour had escalated into sex acts with her.

The first offender denied three charges of indecency against the girls between 1976 and 1980 and a further allegation of assaulting the older girl and having sex with her between 1980 and 1985 when she was asleep and incapable of giving or withholding consent.

But a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh found him guilty of the abuse and assaults carried out at an address in Methil.

A judge told him: “You have been convicted of grave and highly disturbing sexual offending against young girls.”

Lord Arthurson rejected a defence motion that Gartshore should be allowed to remain free on bail while a background report is prepared on him ahead of sentencing next month.

The judge remanded him in custody and told him he would be receiving “a substantial custodial sentence” for his crimes.

The court heard that one victim, now aged 51, sent a message to the other “out of the blue” through the social media site Facebook revealing that had seen Gartshore molest her as a child. She also told the woman that he had subjected her to abuse as well.

The other woman, now aged 44, wrote back to her that she was sorry to hear of it and added: “I dealt with this years ago through counselling.”

The younger woman told the court that when she was a little girl she went to get the other victim to go and play but met Gartshore on a path and he molested her.

Gartshore had already started abusing the older girl by that time and would touch her before having sex with her as a teenager.

Gartshore, formerly of Lime Grove, Methil, told the court: “I was basically discovering how things work.”

He said to police that he was “a wee bit infatuated” with the older girl when younger. He conceded he did hurt her and added: “It was a nasty, terrible thing to do.”

But he told the court: “I wasn’t sexually attracted to young girls.” He maintained the victims were lying in their evidence over serious episodes of abuse.

Advocate depute Richard Goddard said to him: “The fact is when you were younger you had an interest in sexually abusing younger girls when the opportunity presented itself.” Gartshore replied: “Absolutely not.”

Gartshore was placed on the sex offenders’ register.