Nwicker60
14-Sep-12, 08:48
Judge tells accused a prison sentence is "certainly on the cards"
A THURSO man has been found guilty of waging a six-year campaign of sexual abuse against a young girl.
David Cunningham, 33, was convicted by a majority jury verdict of indecently assaulting the girl at a house in Moray, by touching her inappropriately on various occasions, beginning when she was aged five and he was 17. He was also found guilty of touching the same victim, inappropriately, at an address in Thurso, on one occasion when she was a teenager.
Further allegations including that Cunningham tried to kiss the girl and have sex with her, were dropped. He was remanded pending a background report.
The Judge, Lord Stewart, told him that a custodial sentence was not inevitable but was “certainly on the cards”.
Cunningham, whose address was stated at yesterday’s appearance at the High Court in Inverness, to Queen’s Terrace, Thurso, claimed that a confession he had made, was a false one designed to get him out of the local police station.
The court heard that, during the confession, the unemployed father of five, who pleaded not guilty, said he didn’t know why he had committed the offences. He knew it was wrong and, looking back, he was “disgusted” by his behaviour.
A THURSO man has been found guilty of waging a six-year campaign of sexual abuse against a young girl.
David Cunningham, 33, was convicted by a majority jury verdict of indecently assaulting the girl at a house in Moray, by touching her inappropriately on various occasions, beginning when she was aged five and he was 17. He was also found guilty of touching the same victim, inappropriately, at an address in Thurso, on one occasion when she was a teenager.
Further allegations including that Cunningham tried to kiss the girl and have sex with her, were dropped. He was remanded pending a background report.
The Judge, Lord Stewart, told him that a custodial sentence was not inevitable but was “certainly on the cards”.
Cunningham, whose address was stated at yesterday’s appearance at the High Court in Inverness, to Queen’s Terrace, Thurso, claimed that a confession he had made, was a false one designed to get him out of the local police station.
The court heard that, during the confession, the unemployed father of five, who pleaded not guilty, said he didn’t know why he had committed the offences. He knew it was wrong and, looking back, he was “disgusted” by his behaviour.