'Cruel and wicked' pensioner jailed for abusing children over 29 years

A "cruel and wicked" pensioner who sexually assaulted a boy and subjected four other youngsters to physical attacks over 29 years has been jailed.

Archibald Thorburn, 77, preyed on the youngsters while they were in care at locations in Edinburgh.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how he started abusing his first victim in the summer of 1963 and continued to do so for nearly 30 years.

Jurors were told Thorburn repeatedly slapped, punched and kicked the boy when he was just six-years-old.

He also struck him with a spirit level and forced him to run around a garden with a rope around his neck while carrying tins filled with concrete.

The court heard that Thorburn also sexually assaulted the boy on various occasions between July 1963 and April 1968.

He also abused other children and subjected them to violent physical assaults.

Thorburn hid puppies from one girl, told her they had gone missing and forced her to go looking for them.

He denied any wrongdoing but jurors returned verdicts on a total of 14 charges after hearing evidence described by judge Michael O'Grady KC as "truly shocking".

Thorburn, from Edinburgh, was remanded in custody pending background reports, and will be sentenced later this year.

Judge Michael O'Grady KC told Thorburn: "The complainers who gave evidence in this case are no longer young. But they were once children.

"They were rejected, damaged, unhappy and bewildered. All this you must have known.

"We now know what you proved to be to them; a petty tyrant, a torturer, a sadist and a sexual predator."

He said the children had suffered "unimaginable" ordeals at his hands.

The judge added: "You are a cruel and wicked man who robbed them of what remained of an already blighted childhood.

"The damage you have done is incalculable and all too obvious."

During the trial the boy sexually abused by Thorburn recalled what happened when he was placed in care with other children.

He said he shared a room with Thorburn, who was older than him, at a house in Bath Street, Portobello.

The man, who is now aged 69, said that the accused told him to perform a sex act which caused him to vomit on the carpet.

The witness said he was made to clean it up and ordered by Thorburn not to say anything, who told him: "It was 'our secret'."

Speaking about Thorburn, he said: "I was scared of him from day one. He had a temper on him. He would just lash out."

When he first moved in, the witness said the children had to perform chores before they went to school.

But if they were not done properly they would be hit with slippers or shoes or belts.

The court heard how on various occasions between 8 June 1965 and 6 March 1968, Thorburn also subjected a girl - who was nine when she was first targeted - to violent physical and sexual assaults.

Jurors also heard that during the same time period, Thorburn also forced another eight-year-old girl to take scalding hot and freezing cold baths as a "punishment".

He also forced her to stare at a photograph of him over a "period of hours" and he struck her if she took her eyes off the image.

During the mid-1970s, Thorburn also preyed on a 13-year-old boy and he subjected him to violent physical assaults over a three-year period.

On one occasion, the court heard how he brandished a hot poker at the boy and threatened to brand him with it.

Thorburn also struck his own father on various occasions between 1965 and April 1985 by repeatedly punching and kicking him.

The court also heard how between July 1963 and January 1971, Thorburn "cruelly and unnaturally" treated another boy by repeatedly slapping, punching and kicking him on the head and body.

He also shaved the youngster's head and forced him to watch when he punished other children.

Defence advocate Brian McConnachie KC said he would reserve his mitigation until the sentencing hearing.

Judge O'Grady told Thorburn: "Such unforgivable behaviour has - at least in your case - a reckoning.

"And as you will understand that will be in the form of a significant sentence of imprisonment."

If you or someone you know has been affected by child abuse, free and confidential help is available right now through the BBC Action Line.