VIGILANTE VILLAGE CRITICISED AFTER ASSAULT ON CONVICTED PAEDOPHILE ALLAN EWAN
AN ENTIRE village was criticised by a sheriff yesterday for backing two teenage boys who beat up a paedophile.Alan Lunn and Shaw Smith attacked former Scout master Allan Ewan after discovering he was a convicted pervert.
They also terrorised Ewan's 71-year-old father.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that Lunn and Smith, who were 16 at the time, had been supported by the villagers in Methven, Perthshire, where they live.
But Sheriff Pamela Bowman told the teenage vigilantes: "The reports talk about having the support of local feeling and an element of provocation.
"Regarding the support of local people, if it is behind you, then that support is misplaced." Last night, some villagers denied backing the teenagers, who are now 17.
A drinker in the Methven Arms pub said: "There was no support for them.
"Most of the village was disgusted." And local councillor Kelso Russell said: "The people I know in Methven would not condone these actions." But Smith's father Donny said: "Everyone in the village has been on the boys' sides.
They know what Ewan is." A neighbour of Ewan's said there was a lot of sympathy for Smith and Lunn.
He said: "I don't know why a court should criticise us for sticking up for them." The trial heard Ewan had told Smith he was a surveyor and paid him to go out on fake surveying jobs with him.
It followed the same pattern as Ewan's previous behaviour, which eventually led to him being jailed for 15 months.
He was convicted of sex offences against youths aged between 15 and 18 over the course of six years.
The bachelor was also found with more than 1000 photos of naked youths and was caught when an alert film developer spotted pictures of nude boys.
When Smith and Lunn found out Ewan had been in jail for abusing teenage boys, they went to his home, tied a chain round his neck and pulled it.
Sentencing Lunn and Smith, Sheriff Bowman told them it made no difference that their victim was a paedophile.
She added: "Acts such as this cannot be tolerated.
In my view, they pose a threat to order and the balance of society and communities.
The pair, who denied assault, were ordered to carry out 240 hours community service.
