Child rapist who abused girls for more than a decade facing jail term

A child rapist who spent more than a decade abusing girls during visits to a flat is facing a lengthy jail sentence.

Brian Stobie, 70, repeatedly preyed on four underage girls and subjected one victim to rape during a catalogue of sexual offending committed between 1991 and 2007 in Edinburgh.

Stobie, formerly of Duke Street, Leith, had denied a series of charges during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh but was found guilty of eight offences by a jury – involving one of rape, one of indecent assault and six of indecent conduct.

A judge told jurors after the verdict: “You will understand prison is inevitable in this case, standing the serious nature of his convictions.”

Judge Alison Stirling said: “It has been a difficult and anxious case.”

Stobie first targeted a 12-year-old girl who he got to sit on his knee and molested at an address in Leith. A second child was abused by him from the age of five and was grabbed, restrained and sexually touched before he later raped the victim.

A third girl was aged 11 when Stobie began making sexual remarks to her and got her to sit on his knee as he kissed and touched the child. His fourth victim was ten when he directed inappropriate and sexualised remarks to her and began molesting her.

Advocate depute Martin Crawford told jurors: “The Crown case is that the accounts that these women have given can be accepted by you as credible and reliable.”

The prosecutor said: “These were experiences that happened when they were children, in circumstances which were outwith their control.”

Former bus driver Stobie did not give in evidence in his own defence at the trial.

He also admitted four charges of trying to elicit underage girls to send him naked pictures of themselves in August 2022, unaware at the time that he was dealing with adults on the internet.

Stobie was placed on the sex offenders’ register and remanded in custody while a background report is prepared on him ahead of sentencing.