Former Boys’ Brigade leader convicted of child sex abuse

A former Boys’ Brigade leader and youth football coach has been sentenced to prison for abusing seven boys in his care.

Craig Menzies, 55, committed the offences at various locations in Scotland between 1986 and 2004.

This included sexually abusing boys during trips, giving them alcohol and showing them pornography. He also abused them during so-called “fitness sessions” with one victim.

On May 29, Menzies pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to seven charges – four sexual assaults and three indecent assaults.

Katrina Parkes, Scotland’s prosecutor for sex offences at the High Court, said Menzies had used his position and social connections to “harass vulnerable young boys who should have been safe in his care”.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison with a three-year non-parole period and placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

A former physiotherapist took advantage of his position to abuse a young footballer when he was injured, telling the boy that if he did not agree to treatment he would not play football again.

Judge Tom Hughes said it was “quite clear” the impact Menzies had on the victims.

He added: “In some cases, careers were ruined and others committed crimes because they could not come to terms with what had been done to them.

“I took that into account and it is quite inevitable that I concluded that a lengthy prison sentence was acceptable in this case.”

The court heard that Menzies met the four boys while he was a squad leader in the 118th Company of the Boys’ Brigade, based at King’s Park Parish Church in Glasgow.

During a camping trip in Leven, Fife, in the mid- or late-1980s, Menzies sexually abused a 13- or 14-year-old boy.

The child was drunk and sleeping when the abuse began.

The second boy, aged around 12 or 13, was attacked while camping on the West Highland Way, near Fort William, in the early or mid-1990s.

Menzies gave the boy alcohol and showed him pornographic magazines before sexually assaulting him.

Then in the early 1990s he attacked a third boy, aged about 12 or 13, at a campsite in Glencoe.

During an unofficial trip to the Isle of Skye organised by Menzies in the mid-1990s, he indecently assaulted a fourth teenage girl.

Along with the victim, who was their friend, were several members of the Boys’ Brigade.

The sacrifices are praised

The court also heard that Menzies became involved with the Whitecart Angels baseball club in the mid-1990s, where he met his fifth victim, who was then aged about 10.

He admitted that on various occasions he engaged in lewd, indecent, and lascivious behavior towards the boy.

The sixth victim, aged around 13, met Menzies through a family friend and attended “fitness sessions” held at Bellahouston Park or Menzies’ home.

He admitted to sexually abusing the boy in the early or mid-2000s.

Menzies was the manager and physiotherapist at Cart Castle youth football club in Glasgow when he attacked his seventh victim in the early 2000s.

The boy, who was around 13 when the abuse began, watched pornographic films and was molested in Menzies’ home.

Ms Parkes praised the victims for coming forward, saying it led to Menzies’ conviction.

She said: “His corrupt actions affected many who now live with the traumatic consequences of his actions.

“I would like to urge any victim of a similar crime not to suffer in silence, but to report the matter and seek support. Our prosecutors will use all available tools to seek justice.”

Tony Graham KC, who defended his client, said he had no recollection of the offences that took place.

The lawyer added: “He accepts that the boys gave statements to police and were telling the truth.”