Pensioner jailed for sexual abuse against teenage girls in Ayrshire
Thomas Howe assaulted the girls in Stevenston almost 20 years ago
A man who sexually abused two teenage girls in Ayrshire almost 20 years ago has been jailed.
Thomas Howe was working the night shift at Kerelaw School, a secure unit for vulnerable children in Stevenston, when he carried out the attacks in the early 2-thousands.
His victims were just 14 and 15 at the time.
One told the court she had been left scarred for life, after being abused by someone who was supposed to be looking after her.
The woman, who's now 32 and was placed in Kerelaw's secure unit after running away from the school, cried through her evidence, saying she thought it was a dream and pretended to be sleeping when she realised it was real.
She added: "I thought the staff would help me when I went to them but they're all related or went out with one another.
"I'm scarred for life through Kerelaw.
"It was for vulnerable people and they were supposed to be looking after me."
Howe rubbed himself against her, slapped her bottom and touched her privates inappropriately - after letting himself in to her locked room one night in the early 2000s.
The second victim said Howe came alone to her room one night and rubbed himself against her when she pressed the buzzer to go to the bathroom.
Barbara Knox, a former colleague of Howe's, gave evidence as a defence witness, saying staff would never go to a youngster's room alone as "they could've been violent, they could've been murderers."
Mrs Knox, 65, added: "Our safety was always paramount."
Sheriff Shirley Foran convicted Howe of indecent assaults and deferred sentence for background reports to be prepared, adding: "I have no doubt in my mind there is a significant sexual element to the offences."
When Howe returned to the dock today/yesterday (TUES) Defence Advocate John McElroy said Howe was unrepentant as he maintained his innocence and said had Howe been convicted at the time he committed the offences, the maximum available jail term would have been three months.
He asked for leniency, saying Howe was a family man, father and grandfather who had been assessed as "a low-risk of respective re-offending and a low risk in respect of any violence."
But Sheriff Foran ruled there was only one way she could deal with Howe - who is known to friends and family as Tom - and jailed him.
As she did so, she said that, apart from the sex attacks, he had "otherwise lived a useful and, arguably, blameless life", adding: "These young women were particularly vulnerable by virtue of their own personal circumstances.
"This must be marked with a prison sentence - an alternative is not available."
The sheriff said she would have imposed a 12-month sentence but had taken account of the "passage of time and Howe's good conduct" since the offences were committed.