Sentences were passed in August for crimes including rape, embezzlement, animal abuse and assault.
A Fife councillor who groomed and sexually abused a vulnerable teenage girl at addresses in Edinburgh and Fife was jailed for 27 months. A businessman who terrorised two grey seal pups with a large wooden stick at a picturesque East Lothian harbour was ordered to pay a fine.
While, an Edinburgh man who was found guilty of raping two vulnerable teenagers on the same night was jailed indefinitely last month. And a businessman caught running a brothel from inside a notorious Edinburgh sauna was spared a jail sentence at court in August.
![A paedophile youth football coach has been jailed for the fifth time for sickening sex offences against children and breaching court orders.
Craig Raeburn was caught trying to hide a computer containing images of youngsters being raped when police officers visited his home in Haddington, East Lothian, earlier this year. Raeburn, 60, initially denied owning the electronic tablet when confronted by the constables but eventually confessed he had stashed the device in his kitchen and was forced to hand it over.
An examination of the device was carried out and horror pictures depicting the sexual abuse of children were found including four at Category A - the most depraved end of the spectrum. The former NHS manager has been caged on four previous occasions for possessing indecent images of children, sending sex pics to a teenage boy and breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order [SOPO].
He admitted the latest offences when he appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in July and was back in the dock for sentencing on August 15. Sheriff Christopher Dickson said: “These are both serious offences set against the background of analogous offending. There is only one appropriate way of dealing with you and that is a custodial sentence.”
Raeburn was sentenced to a 20 month jail term backdated to his remand date in January and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2025/08/15/14/26/IMG_4638.jpeg?crop=4:3&trim=&width=800)
9. Youth football coach jailed for fifth time
A paedophile youth football coach has been jailed for the fifth time for sickening sex offences against children and breaching court orders. Craig Raeburn was caught trying to hide a computer containing images of youngsters being raped when police officers visited his home in Haddington, East Lothian, earlier this year. Raeburn, 60, initially denied owning the electronic tablet when confronted by the constables but eventually confessed he had stashed the device in his kitchen and was forced to hand it over. An examination of the device was carried out and horror pictures depicting the sexual abuse of children were found including four at Category A - the most depraved end of the spectrum. The former NHS manager has been caged on four previous occasions for possessing indecent images of children, sending sex pics to a teenage boy and breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order [SOPO]. He admitted the latest offences when he appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in July and was back in the dock for sentencing on August 15. Sheriff Christopher Dickson said: “These are both serious offences set against the background of analogous offending. There is only one appropriate way of dealing with you and that is a custodial sentence.” Raeburn was sentenced to a 20 month jail term backdated to his remand date in January and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years. | Alexander Lawrie
10. Embezelled £16,000 from work
An estate agent manager who embezzled more than £16,000 from his employers has been ordered to carry out unpaid work as punishment. Ross Young produced fake invoices for maintenance work that he pretended had been carried out at properties while employed with Belvoir Letting Agency in Edinburgh. Young, 40, managed to steal a total of £16,680 over a 10 month period before he was eventually caught out when a colleague became suspicious of the bogus invoice scam in October 2019. An internal company investigation was conducted and the estate agent boss was arrested and charged after the police were contacted. Young, from Colinton, Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to embezzling the cash between January and October 2019 when he appeared at the city’s sheriff court in July. Young returned to the dock for sentencing on August 21, where Sheriff Francis Gill imposed a community payback order with an unpaid work element of 200 hours to be completed within 12 months. Young pleaded guilty to embezzling £16,680 while employed as a manager with Belvoir Letting Agents, Dundas Street, Edinburgh, between January and October 2019. | Alexander Lawrie
11. Jailed for raping two teenagers on same night
An Edinburgh man who was found guilty of raping two vulnerable teenagers on the same night has been jailed indefinitely. Raymond Nyiam, also known as Otu Nyiam, was made subject to an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) on August 26 and must serve a minimum of four years in custody before he can be considered for release into the community by the Parole Board. The 35-year-old's offending took place after he encountered both victims at a nightclub in the capital in February 2019. He raped both teenagers at a flat when they were either asleep or unconscious due to the effects of alcohol, meaning they were incapable of giving consent. An OLR is a lifelong sentence put in place to protect the public, imposed on people convicted of serious, violent or sexual offences at the High Court. The judge must set a ‘punishment part’ of the OLR which is the minimum time the offender must spend in prison before being considered for release. Fiona Kirkby, Procurator Fiscal for High Court Sexual Offences, said: “Raymond Nyiam systematically pursued these young women, who had the right to be safe after enjoying a night out. Instead, he exploited their vulnerability to rape them when they were incapable of giving consent.” Nyiam has been added to the sex offenders register indefinitely. He was also given an indefinite non-harassment order. | Police Scotland
12. Businessman terrorised seal pups
A businessman who terrorised two grey seal pups with a large wooden stick at a picturesque East Lothian harbour has been ordered to pay a fine. Richard Montgomery used an eight foot fence post to “prod and push” the vulnerable animals back into the sea at the harbour in North Berwick, East Lothian, last year. Montgomery, 62, forced one of the seals to jump around 10 feet into the water and was said to have left the second young animal “screeching” and showing “clear signs of distress”. The shocking incident was halted when office workers ran from their workplace to confront the man who quickly left the scene on his pushbike. The police were alerted and Montgomery - who runs a golf hospitality tour business - was arrested and charged, and he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday, August 22. Montgomery claimed he was attempting to help the seals back into the water but his actions were slammed as “inept and ignorant” by a sheriff and and “ill-judged and ill-informed” by prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to a charge of conducting himself in a disorderly manner by harassing two grey seal pups by poking and pushing them with a piece of wood that resulted in one seal jumping eight to 10 feet into the sea and he did commit a breach of the peace at North Berwick Harbour. Sheriff Derek O’Carroll described Montgomery’s behaviour as “extremely foolish” and “very unpleasant” and said his actions by wielding the fence post had been “inept and ignorant”. Sheriff O’Carroll sentenced Montgomery to pay a fine of £1000 to mark the offence. | British Divers Marine Life Rescue/ Alexander Lawrie