Ex-Celtic Boys’ Club coach Frank Cairney loses second jail freedom bid
Frank Cairney, 84,was jailed for four years in February after he was found guilty of child sex abuse.
A paedophile former boss of
Celtic Boys’ Club lost a bid for freedom yesterday while appealing his conviction for
abusing eight children.
Lawyers for Frank Cairney, 84, applied for his
release on bail ahead of the appeal hearing but the move was rejected by a judge.
Cairney was convicted of sickening attacks on
young boys while running St Columba’s Boys Guild in Viewpark, Lanarkshire, and the under-16 team at Celtic BC.
The predator was jailed for four years in February.
Frank Cairney was jailed earlier this year for a 20-year long campaign of abuse (Image:
The Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh was told Cairney had been suffering from ill health, including heart problems.
His defence team argued Cairney presented a low risk of re-offending and the charges he was convicted of dated back as far as 1965.
They added he had a fixed address in Viewpark and wasn’t a flight risk.
But judge Lord Turnbull threw out the application.
He said Cairney had been convicted of a “series of nasty charges” that involved a “breach of trust” for someone in his position.
Lord Turnbull added: “The sentence imposed took into account his age and the passage of time.”
The judge said he was considering the seriousness of the charges and the “apparent strength” of the appeal case when making his decision.
He added: “I am satisfied that interim liberation ought not to be granted and I refused the application.”
A previous bail bid by Cairney, who didn’t appear in court yesterday, was refused in May.
Cairney joined Celtic Boys Club in 1971 after being asked to run the youth side by legendary manager Jock Stein.
He used his position to molest youngsters in a church hall, in his car and at Celtic’s Barrowfield training ground.
Cairney denied nine charges of sexual abuse between 1965 and 1986 but a jury at Hamilton Sheriff Court convicted him.
Trial sheriff Daniel Kelly branded him a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”.
Cairney abused a 14-year-old boy on various occasions at the Barrowfield ground, as well as in other locations in Glasgow and Lanarkshire between September 1969 and December 1972.
He indecently assaulted a 15-year-old boy at the training ground between January 1985 and December 1986.
He assaulted two other boys aged between 14 and 17, at various Lanarkshire locations, including a church, between May 1965 and May 1970.
And he was convicted of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour against two 12-year-old boys in Lanarkshire between December 1965 and December 1968.
Celtic BC founder Jim Torbett was jailed for six years last November after being convicted of sexually abusing three boys during the 80s and 90s while running the youth outfit.
In May Jim McCafferty, 73, who worked with Celtic BC and Celtic FC, was jailed for six years and nine months for targeting ten teenage boys between 1972 and 1996.
