A man who was jailed after he filmed children being abused in a flat dubbed the ‘Beastie House’ has launched a bid to clear his name. Scott Forbes, 51, recorded sickening acts being carried out by six other members of a vile paedophile ring.
Forbes claimed the children were lying about their harrowing ordeals but was convicted after a trial and jailed for eight years at the High Court in Glasgow. It has emerged Forbes, nicknamed ‘Scott the Cameraman’ by victims, has ordered lawyers to appeal both his sentence and his conviction.
A previous hearing was told Forbes claimed the judicial system, police and social workers were ‘conspiring against him’ and that one girl who was abused was ‘quite promiscuous’.
Psychologist Dr Angela Holmes said: “He was derogatory towards the children, accused them of lying and accused foster parents of coercing the children to lie. He referred to the girl as being quite promiscuous.”
Iain Owens, 46, Elaine Lannery, 40, Lesley Williams, 43, Paul Brannan, 42, Barry Watson, 48, and John Clark, 49, were jailed for between eight and 20 years and handed orders for lifelong restriction. Their trial heard two girls and a boy were violently and sexually assaulted on multiple occasions between 2012 and 2019.
The gang would hold ‘rape nights’ and ‘dance and sex nights’ in a squalid flat in Glasgow, dubbed the ‘Beastie House’, that was frequented by drug users. The trial heard that the children first came into contact with social work in Glasgow in August 2017 and were deemed to be at risk in July 2018.
But the allegations of violence and sexual abuse did not come to light until March 2020. The seven-strong gang have so far claimed £851,941 to fund their defence teams while the prosecution has cost taxpayers more than £1.4m in legal aid.
The Appeal Court in Edinburgh confirmed Forbes had launched an intention to appeal both conviction and sentence.
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