A vile Paisley beast has been caged for the horrific sexual abuse of two young girls which “robbed them of their childhood”.
Edward Brolly sexually assaulted a young girl for seven years while he was in a “position of trust”. Between 2008 and 2015, the 87-year-old would pick the girl up from school twice per week and subjected her to years of abuse.
Brolly, of Barshaw Drive, sexually assaulted a second girl, aged just five, when he would also pick her up from school.
Paisley Sheriff Court previously heard: “Throughout the first girl’s time at primary school, between the ages of five and 11, the accused would collect her from school each Monday and Friday afternoon and take her home.
“On the days when the accused picked the children up, he would sit the girl on his lap while they watched TV.
“While sitting on his lap, the girl recalls the accused would then place his hand under the waistband of her lower clothing, inside her underwear and touch her.
“Due to her age at the time, the girl did not understand what the accused was doing and she recalls there was no conversation during these incidents.
“Brolly acted in this manner towards her every Monday and Friday throughout her childhood. As she was so young, she was not aware what the accused was doing was wrong.”
The court heard the abuse only took place when the accused was looking after the children alone. However, on one occasion, the procurator fiscal depute told the court: “The girl recalls one time the accused’s wife was within the property and the girl was on the accused’s knee.
“She remembers the accused’s hand was close to her private parts but not under her clothing and she remembers the woman saying something like, ‘oh Eddie, stop it’.
“By the time the girl reached primary seven, the incidents were still happening. She began sex education at school and realised what Brolly was doing was sexual.
“She first disclosed this to one of her friends while in fourth year at school and then she told her boyfriend around the summer of 2022.”
The fiscal depute told the court how Brolly abused a second youngster between July 2011 and July 2012.
They explained: “When the girl was about five, in primary one, she recalls being alone with the accused in his property. She recalls him placing his hand underneath her lower clothing and touching her. She doesn’t remember what happened thereafter or how this stopped.
“She didn’t disclose what had happened at the time, however, in February 2022, she told her mother what happened when she was five.”
When Brolly was confronted by the girl’s mother, he denied any wrongdoing and stated: “I may have touched them when I was lifting them up, but it wasn’t deliberate’. He was asked if he was denying the conduct the girls had disclosed and he responded: ‘How can I?’
Brolly’s defence agent told the court: “There’s nothing I can say. He accepts what he done was wrong. He is essentially the carer of his wife. He has bone, skin and prostate cancer as well as leukaemia. It’s a death sentence.”
Brolly – who the Paisley Daily Express understands drove to court – sat in the dock expressionless as Sheriff Gillian Craig slammed his vile and calculated abuse.
She said: “What is abundantly clear is you sexually abused these two girls. You abused one weekly. You robbed her of her childhood. I have read the victim impact statements and both girls showed incredible bravery coming forward after all this time.
“One girl suffered significant trauma, she has self-harmed and she has took attempts at her life. She is undoubtedly a different person than she would have been if it were not for you.
“The other girl has turned to alcohol due to the harm you done. Nothing I do will address that. There is no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
Brolly was jailed for a total of 54 months and placed on the sex offenders’ register.
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