11 Edinburgh criminals handed sentences in July for crimes including drug trafficking, sexual assault and
A former NHS manager who has been jailed four times for sickening child abuse offences is back behind bars after he was caught trying to hide a computer containing images of children being raped. Craig Raeburn attempted to conceal the electronic tablet in his kitchen when two police officers arrived on a routine visit at his home in Haddington, East Lothian, earlier this year. Raeburn, 60, denied any knowledge of the device when confronted by the constables but he eventually confessed he owned the tablet and was forced to hand it over. Police then carried out a cyber crime examination and found a haul of images depicting the sexual abuse of children including four rated as Category A - the worst end of the spectrum. Raeburn is now facing his fifth jail term after he admitted breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order [SOPO] and to possessing indecent images of children, when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on July 29. Prosecutor Xander van der Scheer told the court Raeburn was 'a high risk' sex offender who was being managed by police after being placed on a five year SOPO in March 2022. The court was told conditions of the order included police officers attending his home on unannounced visits to check up on his activities. The fiscal depute said officers visited Raeburn's flat to carry out 'a routine check' when they spotted a black electronic tablet leaning against a sofa on January 21 this year. Raeburn, who was also a former youth football coach, was seen to quickly scoop up two blankets from the couch and take them into the kitchen. The constables then noted the electronic tablet was missing and demanded he hand it over. Sheriff Christopher Dickson was told the father-of-two has been on remand since his arrest in January and deferred sentence for the preparation of reports to next month. | Alexander Lawrie
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Belfast Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Playpark pervert who exposed himself to children admits breaching sex order
Predator who exposed himself to children back in the dock A playpark pervert who exposed himself to young girls has admitted breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (Sopo). A solicitor for Alan Hamilton told Laganside Magistrates Court in Belfast his client would be pleading guilty to three counts.
The Independent
15 hours ago
- The Independent
Labour needs to drown out the myths about migrants
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Rising concern over immigration explains the flurry of announcements in what Downing Street regards as " small boats week' – publication of the 'one in, one out' returns agreement with France; a crackdown on social media sites used by the gangs to promote Channel crossings; a plan to speed up the processing of asylum claims; the recruitment of 300 more National Crime Agency officers; and universities being told to ensure foreign students take up places, rather than use them as a back-door entry route. For Nigel Farage, every week is "crime week": he has made announcements three weeks running under his new 'Britain Is Lawless' banner. However, it seems his real purpose is to cement a link between crime and immigration in the public's mind. He calls for the deportation of the 10,400 foreign nationals held in prison, another 10,000 to be imprisoned overseas and accuses the police of covering up the immigration status of alleged offenders, which the police deny. 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Chris Philp, the shadow Home Secretary, said nationalities crossing the Channel are 24 times more likely to end up in prison, a claim experts say is statistically flawed. Both the Tories and Reform claim 'Afghans and Eritrean nationals are 20 times more likely to be convicted of a sexual crime than a British national'. This is based on statistics on population from 2021 but offences from 2021-23, a period during which migration from both countries rose. Population figures on foreign nationals are unreliable. With stats about migrants, the right is playing with fire. It should not stoke community tensions by trumpeting misleading facts at a time when the temperature is rising over asylum hotels – with more protests outside them planned in the coming days. Although some ministers and Labour backbenchers are squeamish, Starmer is right to go head-to-head with Reform and the Tories on immigration. Labour can't leave the field to them. 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Analysts say foreigners are under-represented among those in jail for sexual offences, though you wouldn't know that from the Tory and Reform claims. True, releasing more official statistics might sometimes produce uncomfortable headlines. But much better to publish them with some context than allow the populists to pump out dodgy figures unchallenged. All politicians should use numbers with care rather than to play a divisive, dangerous game. It's clear that Reform and the Tories are more interested in scoring political points than showing such responsibility. It falls to Labour to do so.
Sky News
a day ago
- Sky News
Oasis gig death: Witness saw similar incident and asks 'were lessons learned'?
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