MICHAEL PRYDE FROM PERTH SENTENCED FOR HORRIFIC 17-YEAR ABUSE CAMPAIGN

A man identified as Michael Pryde has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for a prolonged and disturbing campaign of abuse spanning over 17 years. The heinous acts were committed against a woman and young children, with Pryde inflicting severe injuries and engaging in cruel psychological torment.

During the sentencing hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh, the court heard details of Pryde’s brutal conduct, which included inflicting a particularly severe injury on a three-year-old boy. Additionally, Pryde subjected another young child to a disturbing form of punishment, forcing him to stand within a circle of Lego bricks and physically assaulting him if he stepped outside the designated area. The judge described Pryde’s actions as those of a bully and a coward, emphasizing the malicious nature of his conduct.

Lord Uist, presiding over the case, condemned Pryde’s violence, stating, "The violence employed by you was particularly nasty, involving compression of the throat of three of the victims." The judge highlighted the deliberate cruelty involved in Pryde’s assaults, noting that there was a clear element of intentional harm and a lack of remorse from the offender. Pryde was convicted of multiple charges, including assaulting the woman, two boys, and a girl, with the court revealing that his violent acts took place at various residences in Perth between 1997 and 2014.

Throughout the trial, Pryde denied numerous allegations, but the court found him guilty of several serious offences. Evidence presented during the proceedings detailed how Pryde forced a young boy to stand inside a circle of Lego bricks, sometimes on one leg, and physically hit him if he failed to comply or if he stepped outside the boundary. The court also heard that Pryde assaulted and verbally abused a girl, grabbing her by the neck, slapping her, and shouting obscenities.

Pryde, a joiner with a prior conviction for assault, was also acquitted of a charge involving the rape of a woman in Perth in the summer of 2006, which was alleged to have been filmed on a camcorder after Pryde supplied her with drugs. Despite his conviction, Pryde’s legal representative, Tony Lenehan, argued that Pryde maintained his innocence and was not a habitual offender. Lenehan described Pryde as a hardworking, self-employed craftsman who had never previously served time in prison, asserting that this would be his first and last incarceration.

In addition to the five-year sentence, Pryde received an extra six months imprisonment for breaching bail conditions on two separate occasions. Pryde’s address was listed as McDonald Park, Balbeggie, in Perthshire, where the abuse and intimidation took place over nearly two decades, leaving a trail of trauma and suffering among his victims.