Pervert Edinburgh football coach who was jailed on Tuesday dies in prison

A football coach from Edinburgh who was jailed on Tuesday for sexually abusing several young boys at his city home has died in prison just days later.

Let us know what you think and join the conversation at the bottom of this article.

William Lothian, known as Bill, 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.

Seven victims, all now in their 30s, gave evidence against Lothian during a five-day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. The jury in March returned a guilty verdict on each of the 14 charges against him.

William Lothian died in prison on Friday

On Tuesday, Lothian was jailed for 45 months by Sheriff Chris Dickson and placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

It was confirmed to the Evening News on Sunday the pervert football coach had died at HMP Edinburgh on Friday.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We were made aware of the sudden death of a 66-year-old man within HMP Edinburgh around 8am on Friday, 14 May, 2021.

"The death is being treated as unexplained, but there are no apparent suspicious circumstances.

"A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal in due course."

During the trial, 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”.

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 ten 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.”

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 area, 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.

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.