Pervert Edinburgh football coach played porn movies to boozed-up boys before abusing them

A pervert football coach gave young boys alcohol and showed them pornographic movies before sexually abusing them at his Edinburgh home.

William Lothian, 66, indecently assaulted several young players - aged between 11 and 14 - while head coach of a boys’ football club in the capital between 1997 and 2003.

The predator, known to the boys at the time as Bill, invited several lads to stay over at his home where he gave them alcohol and preyed on them while they all slept in his bedroom.

One youngster was left so terrified after Lothian jumped into his bed and pressed his penis against him he was forced to flee the home in the middle of the night.

Predator: pervert coach William Lothian arriving at court

Lothian also regularly assaulted the children during weekly training sessions at a school hall by grabbing their testicles and placing his finger near their anus.

Seven victims, all now in their 30s, gave evidence against Lothian during a five day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last week where they said he targeted them sexually.

The men told the jury there had been regular “inappropriate touching” during the weekly training sessions when the team practised at an Edinburgh school gym hall.

One man said the retired janitor would often “touch our private parts” and “sometimes put his finger up our bums in a joking manner”.

Lothian scowls defiantly after he is convicted of all charges

He added the abuse became “a norm at training” and that Lothian “made it out to be fun, like a game”.

Lothian also invited two players to stay over at his home when they were between 10 and 12 and all three would drink beer and Bacardi in a converted attic.

One victim said: “We would then go down to his bedroom and lie on the floor. He would stick pornography on the TV and watch it.

“Bill would lie in the middle of us on the floor and he would rub our nipples. The alcohol made us feel tired.

“After watching the pornography he had his hands down my shorts. I was half asleep when he was doing this."

The witness said Lothian touched his privates, and added: “We went to sleep and when we woke up it was as if nothing had happened.”

The man said he blocked the abuse out at the time but “as the years have gone on it has had a big impact on me”.

He added looking back it made him feel “horrible and disgusted” and he now feels “ashamed”.

Another victim said he was abused during a stay at Lothian’s home following a Player of the Year presentation night when he was around 13.

He said Lothian, of the capital’s Muirhouse, gave him beer to drink before climbing into bed and molesting him.

The man said: “I could feel his penis on my leg. His hand then travelled down towards my boxers.

“I shrugged him off and said ‘What are you doing?’ He said to me ‘It’s OK, don’t worry.

“I jumped out of bed and I just lay on the floor with a pillow. It was freezing cold and I fell asleep.”

He woke hours later and “sneaked out of the house” while it was still dark.

Lothian denied all 14 allegations against him but was found guilty by a jury of all charges.

Sheriff Chris Dickson placed Lothian on the Sex Offenders’ Register and deferred sentence.

Lothian was granted bail.

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.