Latest news with #FreeChurchOfScotland
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Church pastor guilty of rape and beating children
A Glasgow church pastor is facing a lengthy jail sentence after being convicted of rape and child abuse. Rev James Haram, who had been with the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), was found guilty of 19 charges of physical and sexual abuse, including raping a woman and beating children. His crimes took place between 1997 and 2020 at addresses in Glasgow, Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire and in South Ayrshire. The 51-year-old was remanded in custody at the High Court in Glasgow and will be sentenced next month. More stories from Glasgow & West Scotland More stories from Scotland The jury heard Haram raped, attacked and verbally abused the woman. This included suggesting she should kill herself. He also tracked her movements and forced her to take part in religious activities. The victim recalled her "whole body going limp" while being choked by Haram. Jurors heard the pastor would pressure her into sex while making biblical references. The victim said she was told that she had to "subject" herself to him and recalled how she would sob as a result of the encounters. The court also heard he once mowed over flowers she had taken time to grow. Haram admitted only to "occasional flare-ups of aggression" and claimed every sexual encounter was consensual. 'Modesty checks' on children The court also heard evidence of Haram's child abuse, with one girl recalling how she was regularly beaten by the pastor. He also hit children with a wooden spoon or a rod and carried out "modesty checks" on girls to see what they were wearing. Jurors heard he flew into a rage while in a car with two of the children and claimed that he would deliberately crash the vehicle, killing them all. Haram told the trial: "They knew I did not mean it." Judge Tom Hughes told Haram: "It appears that [what happened] was truly awful - incidents of violence, aggression, all sorts of difficulties and the sexual offending which took place. "During that period, you appeared to be living a life whereby you were acting in an official capacity as a man of the cloth. "You have now been convicted of extremely serious offences which will obviously carry a lengthy custodial sentence." Haram who had been on bail, was remanded in custody.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Glasgow church pastor guilty of rape and beating children
A Glasgow church pastor is facing a lengthy jail sentence after being convicted of rape and child abuse. Rev James Haram, who had been with the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), was found guilty of 19 charges of physical and sexual abuse, including raping a woman and beating children. His crimes took place between 1997 and 2020 at addresses in Glasgow, Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire and in South 51-year-old was remanded in custody at the High Court in Glasgow and will be sentenced next month. The jury heard Haram raped, attacked and verbally abused the included suggesting she should kill also tracked her movements and forced her to take part in religious victim recalled her "whole body going limp" while being choked by heard the pastor would pressure her into sex while making biblical victim said she was told that she had to "subject" herself to him and recalled how she would sob as a result of the encounters. The court also heard he once mowed over flowers she had taken time to admitted only to "occasional flare-ups of aggression" and claimed every sexual encounter was consensual. 'Modesty checks' on children The court also heard evidence of Haram's child abuse, with one girl recalling how she was regularly beaten by the pastor. He also hit children with a wooden spoon or a rod and carried out "modesty checks" on girls to see what they were heard he flew into a rage while in a car with two of the children and claimed that he would deliberately crash the vehicle, killing them told the trial: "They knew I did not mean it."Judge Tom Hughes told Haram: "It appears that [what happened] was truly awful - incidents of violence, aggression, all sorts of difficulties and the sexual offending which took place."During that period, you appeared to be living a life whereby you were acting in an official capacity as a man of the cloth."You have now been convicted of extremely serious offences which will obviously carry a lengthy custodial sentence."Haram who had been on bail, was remanded in custody.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kate Forbes not banned from Summerhall building, venue says
An arts venue has said it has not banned Scotland's Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes from the building after a row over her speaking at an event. Ms Forbes was interviewed on stage at the Summerhall in Edinburgh as part of a Fringe show on August 7 organised by The Herald newspaper. The Deputy First Minister is a devout Christian and a member of the socially conservative Free Church of Scotland, and she was criticised during her SNP leadership battle for her stance on gay marriage, abortion and trans rights. In an email to artists on the day of the event, Summerhall said Herald Unspun was programmed before the line-up of interviewees was confirmed. It described the booking as an 'oversight' and said it 'should have considered the likelihood of her being booked to attend, and the understandable upset it would cause'. The venue said it will be writing 'robust, proactive inclusion and wellbeing policies that prevent this from happening again'. It said Herald Unspun was not curated by Summerhall and at this stage would not comment on future curated events and the possibility of Ms Forbes appearing. However in a statement on Friday it said Ms Forbes is not banned from the building. It said: 'The Fringe event passed without incident. 'Forbes is not banned from the Summerhall building which encompasses a cafe, pub, arts venues, galleries and independent traders' offices and studios.' It said speakers including First Minister John Swinney, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Ms Forbes 'all entered and exited the building the same way for the events over each day'. It added: 'The events, the Herald Unspun events, were a paid hire and programmed by The Herald newspaper.' Ms Forbes has said she 'fervently' believes in freedom of speech. She said: 'Any effort to cancel people, especially politicians, undermines democracy. 'Many people attended the Herald event and it is important that we could freely discuss and debate matters in a respectful manner. 'I respect and acknowledge the fact that, in a liberal democracy, there are people who will agree with me and others who will disagree with me. 'That is all the more reason to create events where the audience and journalists can question politicians openly, as the Herald did.' In an email sent to artists on August 7 and addressed to 'Dear companies', Summerhall said: 'At this point, our main concern is that cancelling the event could pose significant additional risk to the safety and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ artists, staff and audiences by attracting those who share Kate Forbes's views outside of these walls to Summerhall, and as such the interview will take place as scheduled, with all proceeds from the event donated to a local LGBTQ+ charity, the amount and the recipient will be published as soon as possible. 'While the event is happening, staff will be on hand to help anyone who may wish to make use of a designated relaxed space. 'We do not believe LGBTQ+ rights, nor their existence, is up for debate. We recognise that the LGBTQ+ community make up a significant proportion of our artists, audiences and staff, and we have work to do to repair the damage from this oversight. 'At this stage, we can guarantee that we will be writing robust, proactive inclusion and wellbeing policies that prevent this from happening again.'
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Kate Forbes not banned from Summerhall building, venue says
An arts venue has said it has not banned Scotland's Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes from the building after a row over her speaking at an event. Ms Forbes was interviewed on stage at the Summerhall in Edinburgh as part of a Fringe show on August 7 organised by The Herald newspaper. The Deputy First Minister is a devout Christian and a member of the socially conservative Free Church of Scotland, and she was criticised during her SNP leadership battle for her stance on gay marriage, abortion and trans rights. In an email to artists on the day of the event, Summerhall said Herald Unspun was programmed before the line-up of interviewees was confirmed. It described the booking as an 'oversight' and said it 'should have considered the likelihood of her being booked to attend, and the understandable upset it would cause'. The venue said it will be writing 'robust, proactive inclusion and wellbeing policies that prevent this from happening again'. It said Herald Unspun was not curated by Summerhall and at this stage would not comment on future curated events and the possibility of Ms Forbes appearing. However in a statement on Friday it said Ms Forbes is not banned from the building. It said: 'The Fringe event passed without incident. 'Forbes is not banned from the Summerhall building which encompasses a cafe, pub, arts venues, galleries and independent traders' offices and studios.' It said speakers including First Minister John Swinney, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Ms Forbes 'all entered and exited the building the same way for the events over each day'. It added: 'The events, the Herald Unspun events, were a paid hire and programmed by The Herald newspaper.' Ms Forbes has said she 'fervently' believes in freedom of speech. She said: 'Any effort to cancel people, especially politicians, undermines democracy. 'Many people attended the Herald event and it is important that we could freely discuss and debate matters in a respectful manner. 'I respect and acknowledge the fact that, in a liberal democracy, there are people who will agree with me and others who will disagree with me. 'That is all the more reason to create events where the audience and journalists can question politicians openly, as the Herald did.' In an email sent to artists on August 7 and addressed to 'Dear companies', Summerhall said: 'At this point, our main concern is that cancelling the event could pose significant additional risk to the safety and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ artists, staff and audiences by attracting those who share Kate Forbes's views outside of these walls to Summerhall, and as such the interview will take place as scheduled, with all proceeds from the event donated to a local LGBTQ+ charity, the amount and the recipient will be published as soon as possible. 'While the event is happening, staff will be on hand to help anyone who may wish to make use of a designated relaxed space. 'We do not believe LGBTQ+ rights, nor their existence, is up for debate. We recognise that the LGBTQ+ community make up a significant proportion of our artists, audiences and staff, and we have work to do to repair the damage from this oversight. 'At this stage, we can guarantee that we will be writing robust, proactive inclusion and wellbeing policies that prevent this from happening again.'
