SCOTS RAILWAY VOLUNTEER JAILED FOR CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
A Scots railway enthusiast who regularly travelled more than 260 miles to volunteer at a Yorkshire railway has been jailed for child sexual assault.Alistair Langlands from Dundee is beginning a prison sentence of more than 17 years after he was found guilty of sexually abusing two teenage boys in West Yorkshire.
Bradford Crown Court heard the 74-year-old former firefighter held a highly responsible position at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway which included maintaining fire extinguishers.
Recorder Alistair MacDonald KC said at the time of the offending, Langlands had been “a sexual predator” who took advantage of his position in life to satisfy his appetite for young boys.
Despite Langlands being convicted in a trial before a jury at Bradford Crown Court in August, Yorkshire Live reports the judge noted the Scot still maintained his innocence.
Recorder MacDonald added Langlands had not shown “a scintilla of remorse” for his offending.
The jury found Langlands guilty of one offence of indecent assault in relation to one boy and a series of indecent assaults charges against a second teenager.
The court heard Langlands became a firefighter in 1972 and rose through the ranks in a Scottish fire service to become a station officer.
He started volunteering at the heritage railway back in the late 1960s and eventually became a “responsible officer”.
In an impact statement one of the victims, not identified for legal reasons, said he could now see how Langlands “groomed” him.
He said: “He was the adult.
I was the child.
He was someone I should have been able to trust.
He had all the power and control.
“I feel like I have been given a life sentence.
This is going to be with me for the rest of my life.” Recorder MacDonald sentenced Langlands to a total of 17 years and four months in prison and told him he would have to serve at least two-thirds of that jail term.
The judge also imposed a life-long sexual harm prevention order and said Langlands would have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
