Pensioner goes to prison for abuse dating back 50 years

John Weir (75), of Laburnum Road, was sentenced at Hamilton Sheriff Court. He had denied six charges of indecent assault and lewd conduct involving three young girls, but was found guilty on all counts after trial before Sheriff David Bicket.

The offences happened at houses in Harthill and Carluke. It’s believed one of the victims was as young as nine when Weir abused her in the mid-1960s.

The other two girls were aged between 10 and 12 when they were targeted in the 1970s. Weir also abused one of them later when she was a teenager.

Sheriff Bicket said only a prison sentence was appropriate. The sheriff also ordered Weir’s name to be put on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.