Infamous East Lothian sex attacker John Cronin is back behind bars

One of Scotland’s most notorious serial offenders is back behind bars.

John Cronin, a sex attacker from Tranent, who was sentenced at the High Court in July 1992 for an attack on a Tory party worker known only as Judy, in her Edinburgh home.

Convicted sex attacker John Cronin was jailed for two years for stealing £4,000 from a woman after posing as a wealthy banker.

Cronin, originally from Tranent, East Lothian, was previously branded "one of the most dangerous sexual predators in Britain". He has carried out a string of similar frauds in the UK, Ireland and Europe.

According to The Scottish Sun the latest victim to fall for Cronin’s scams was conned into withdrawing the cash last August, Birmingham Crown Court was told.

Cronin, who has been arrested for more than 50 crimes since 1988, was arrested later at her home in Coventry.

During proceedings his defence lawyer, Warren Ridley, admitted that Cronin had a lengthy record and was "absolutely terrified of the prospect of back to custody".

Ignoring the plea for a non-custodial sentence, Judge Peter Carr, told Cronin: "You have been a conman for many years.”

Cronin will serve half of the sentence before being released under strict conditions and must also repay his victim

in 1992, Cronin was given a life for a horrific sex assault on Tory party activist 'Judy X' in Edinburgh while posing as a priest. She later bravely spoke out about her ordeal, revealing Cronin had attacked her with a poker before subjecting her to a sickening ordeal.

Despite a public outcry, he appealed the life sentence and it was later reduced to six years.

Since his release, Cronin has been convicted multiple times for dishonesty, fraud and theft and has served sentences in Ireland and Sweden.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.