A crofter has been convicted of sexually abusing an eight-year-old girl with a gun as he made her lie naked on the floor at a property in Fife.
John Spence’s crime was part of a litany of physical, emotional and sexual abuse directed towards two girls at various addresses in Fife and Sutherland, in the Highlands, spanning a period of about 15 years.
A trial heard that Spence, 59, restricted their food and water, stopped them using a toilet, pulled down their underwear and smacked them on their private parts.
He pointed a gun at one child and made a threat to shoot her.
Unanimous verdict
Spence, an ex-Army soldier and now a crofter near Lairg in Sutherland, denied the offending but was unanimously found guilty by a jury of seven charges following a trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
He was convicted of using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour towards his two young victims, as well as assaulting and neglecting them, and subjecting them to sexual comments.
Following the guilty verdicts, Sheriff James Williamson told Spence he was responsible for a “litany” of abuse towards the children.
The sheriff said: “These are as serious charges as this court is likely to have to consider”.
Sheriff Williamson suggested the case could have been prosecuted at the high court and excused the 15 jurors – some of whom became tearful during proceedings – from jury service for 10 years given the traumatic nature of the case.
Fife gun assault
Spence’s first victim recalled an incident in the living room of a property in Fife when she was eight years old.
The woman said Spence was polishing a gun and began ranting about her being an “ugly little girl” and asked her to take off her clothes and lie on the floor.
She continued: “He wanted me to lie on the floor on my front like a starfish. He did not use the word starfish but told me to spread my arms and legs out”.
She then lay on her front as he continued “pacing back and forward” in what she described as a “surreal situation”.
The woman continued: “He just booted my bits. He kicked my vagina”.
Asked by prosecutor Ronnie Hay what happened with the gun, the woman said Spence penetrated her with it.
She recalled the pain and bleeding. She said she had difficulty going to the toilet at school afterwards.
The woman said Spence also threatened to shoot her on two or three occasions and pointed a gun at her once.
He also directed another person to shave her hair off, leaving her looking “like a little boy”.
She said she used to “pray to God” to be saved from him.
Ruined woman’s life
The trial heard that Spence did not allow the young victims to use a toilet and that they ended up urinating next to a boiler.
He also made them sit on a floor to eat and restricted their food.
Both of the women spoke of being smacked on their bottom and vagina, at times with their trousers and underwear pulled down.
His second victim said Spence once assaulted her by lifting her off her feet by the collar and dropping her and, on another occasion, held her head at a sink.
She said he also once made a threat to her to kill a dog.
The woman recalled Spence giving her alcohol when she was a young teenager and being restricted water.
She said Spence also made sexual comments to her as “a laugh” and showed her adult sexual images.
In cross examination, defence counsel Duncan McPhie suggested the incidents the woman spoke about never happened but she replied: “They did happen.
“They changed my life and ruined my life.
“I can not live as a normal, functioning human being and won’t get the chance to because of things he put me through”.
The trial heard that Spence verbally abused his victims, referring to them in derogatory terms.
Following the guilty verdicts, Mr McPhie called for his client to be bailed ahead of sentencing to obtain background reports, highlighting that Spence is a first offender, has been on bail for more than two years, and has no other criminal cases.
Sheriff Williamson deferred sentencing on Spence until July 10 to obtain reports and continued his bail meantime but warned Spence, of Rowan Croft, Tirryside, Lairg, that the expectation is he will receive a lengthy custodial sentence.
Spence will also be put on the sex offenders register.
The sheriff explained his decision on bail by referring to the fact Spence appears in court as a first offender aged in his late 50s and has been on bail since November 2022, a “considerable period”.
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