Artist who sexually abused three young girls jailed

Derrick Heeney, who worked as an artist, abused the girls between 1983 and 1996.

Artist who sexually abused three young girls jailed

A rapist who sexually abused three young girls in Angus has been locked up for eight years.

Derrick Heeney preyed on his victims which included claiming to help one with a broken radio.

The 62 year-old, who latterly ran an arts store, was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday.

Heeney had previously been convicted at a trial in Edinburgh of six charges including raping two girls and sexually abusing the other.

The crimes occurred in Dundee and Forfar between 1983 and 1996.

The girls were aged between five and 13 when the attacks began.

Heeney, of Montrose, had denied the allegations.

Lord Mulholland told him: “Your conduct was despicable and you will now pay a heavy price.”

The judge said one victim had been “lured to a dingy flat” before being attacked.

He went on to describe Heeney’s claims as “risible”.

Jurors previously heard how he told one of the rape victims that if she got pregnant, she was to claim the father was someone else.

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