This is where The Sun got it from below. The Sun always run a story on this subject after Marc Horne.
A businessman and former football manager has provided a home for life to a paedophile who preyed on young players at Celtic Boys Club.Neil Watt, 56, bought Frank Cairney’s home eight years before his conviction and granted him rent-free tenancy for life, property records confirm.Cairney, 83, the
www.thetimes.co.uk
Neil Watt (56) bought Frank Cairney’s home eight years before his conviction and granted him rent-free tenancy for life, property records confirm.
Cairney (83), the former chief coach of Celtic Boys Club, was jailed for four years in February after being convicted of nine charges of sexually abusing boys. Watt, who managed Ayr United, Clyde and Stranraer, is now the managing director of property firm, Hacking and Paterson.
He gave evidence for Cairney, his former coach at Celtic Boys Club, during his trial. He also spoke up publicly for Cairney when allegations first emerged in the 1990s, stating: “I can’t speak highly enough about the guy.”
Watt, managing director of property firm Hacking and Paterson, and former president and director of the Property Managers Association Scotland, says he now accepts his former friend and mentor is a paedophile and has pledged to compensate his victims.
He claimed that his legal agreement with Cairney means he is powerless to prevent him from returning to the house in Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, on his release.
Records confirm that he bought the property from Cairney for £85k in 2011 but allowed him to live there for the rest of his life without payment.
“Unfortunately, I am now the owner of this house. I cannot do anything about that. However, I can do something when the inevitable happens, given Cairney’s age.
Now the court has proven he is a convicted paedophile it is on my conscience to try to put things right. It is my intention to ensure, when that time comes, that victims of Mr Cairney’s crimes can be assisted in some way.”
Watt, who played for Celtic Boys Club in the late 1970s and 80s, claimed that he had responded to a plea for help from his former manager. “This was a man who I trusted, had faith in and was involved with for a short period of time in my life.
He was a person who needed some assistance and I gave him that assistance. I had no gain, whatsoever, from this and was just trying to be compassionate.”
He strongly denied that the agreement was intended to protect Cairney from being sued by his victims, saying: “The suggestion I colluded with Mr Cairney because he knew he was going to be convicted and I agreed to help him hide his assets is ludicrous.”