Edinburgh crime: Pensioner George Thomson who abused girls at Musselburgh home jailed

He has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

A pensioner who sexually assaulted two young girls while his wife sat in the next room has been jailed and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

George Thomson, 71, began abusing the two children when they were both just seven-years-old at his former home in Musselburgh, East Lothian. Thomson enticed the youngsters into his dingy bedroom to play computer games before making them sit on his lap and touching them intimately.

The vile pensioner groped the vulnerable girls’ breasts, vaginas and bottoms during numerous shocking attacks that took place between 2008 and 2016. Thomson, of Hyvots, Edinburgh, denied three charges of sexual assaulting the children but was found guilty by a jury following a trial at the Capital’s sheriff court last month.

George Thomson, 71, began abusing the two children when they were both just seven-years-old at his former home in Musselburgh, East Lothian.

One victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told the court Thomson penetrated her vagina and anus with his fingers when she was left alone with him at his home. The child said she was left “confused” by the sex attacks and only managed to find the courage to confide in her mother years later.

She said she would spend time at Thomson’s home starting when she was around seven years old and while her parents were at work. She told the jury that the pensioner would invite her into his bedroom and lock the door behind them while she played computer games and watched Disney and Harry Potter movies on his laptop.

The girl described Thomson’s bedroom as being “very dark” as the blinds were always down and the windows never open. The child said the abuse started when she was just seven years old when she would sit on Thomson’s lap to play on his computer.

She described how the pensioner touched her breasts and genitals over her clothing and said he would regularly “fiddle around with my nipples” while in his room.

The court was told the brute also moved the child onto his bed where he penetrated her with his fingers on several occasions and took his erect penis out and rubbed it against her. The victim said the abusive incidents could last up to 30 minutes and took place while Thomson’s wife was in the next room. She said she was left “scared” and “belittled” by the attacks and said the pensioner refused to allow her to leave the room on several occasions.

The jury heard as the victim got older she began to feel “unsafe” in the house and made excuses to her parents not to visit his home.

Following three days of evidence the jury took two hours to return majority guilty verdicts on two charges of sexual assault and one offence of Thomson using lewd, libidinous and indecent practices. Following the jury’s decision Sheriff Ian Anderson deferred sentence on Thomson for social work reports to be prepared and he was released on bail.

Thomson returned to the dock at the city’s sheriff court on Friday where Sheriff Anderson jailed him for a total of 42 months and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for an indefinite period.

Thomson was found guilty of using lewd, libidinous and indecent practices towards one child between December 29, 2008 and November 30, 2010. He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting two children between December 1, 2010 and June 3, 2016, all at a property in Musselburgh, East Lothian.