NEIGHBOURS of the “Beastie House” paedophile gang told how the harrowing case continues to cast a shadow over their community.
Some sickened locals have moved out of streets surrounding the insect-infected flat, where seven heroin addicts raped a toddler and abused other kids.
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Those who remain have revealed their “heartbreak” at learning how one child was shut in a fridge and forced to eat dog food.
Some attacks were filmed as the monsters cheered each other on.
We told how the beasts, four of whom tried to kill a girl in a microwave oven, were jailed for a total of 93 years last week.
One resident recalled the “endless stream” of junkies arriving at the rancid flat in north Glasgow between 2012 and 2019.
But they were oblivious to the abuse being inflicted behind closed doors, which a jury was told included “rape nights” and “dance and sex nights”.
The resident said: “It was a depraved existence but nobody could have imagined how depraved it turned out to be.
“These were people who only cared about money for their next fix. And that flat was the centre of it all, with people coming and going at all times of day.
“It’s heartbreaking to think of what those children went through.”
One of three victims dubbed the hellhole the “dark and scary beastie house” after she was locked in a cupboard with a box of spiders.
Following a makeover a new family has moved in — raising hopes the community can move on.
But another resident believes the neighbourhood is still “not safe”.
They said: “The flat where all this bad stuff happened has thankfully been refurbished and a new family moved in.
“But a lot of people still avoid walking past the house. It brings back bad memories.
“People have left the area. It’s not safe. In the past I didn’t call it deprived, but I do now.”
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The young victims first came into contact with social work services in Glasgow in August 2017 and were deemed to be at risk by July 2018.
But their nightmare only emerged in March 2020, when cops were approached by a worried man who had got to know the children.
Officers were seen carrying bags of evidence from the flat.
Within months angry locals protested outside the home of a double amputee known as “Nae Legs” after learning he was among those facing sex charges.
TIMELINE OF HORROR
BY GRAHAM MANN, CRIME REPORTER
- 2012: Seven-year abuse campaign begins.
- 2018: As concerns grow the kids are added to Glasgow City Council’s Child Protection register.
- 2019: The youngsters are taken into foster care and open up about the horrors they endured.
- SEPT/OCT 2020: Cops swoop on the property. Forensic teams are photographed removing dozens of evidence bags.
- NOVEMBER 2020: Drug-related death of suspect Robert Brown.
- MAY 2021: Accused Maureen McLellan dies after a stroke.
- JANUARY 2022: Co-accused Steven McHendrie passes away.
- SEPTEMBER 2023: Eleven go on trial at Glasgow’s High Court.
- NOVEMBER 2023: Jury finds seven guilty of rape and monstrous abuse of three children.
- JANUARY 27, 2025: Owens is jailed for 20 years, while Lannery gets 17, Williams 14, Brannan 15, Forbes eight, Watson nine and Clark ten. All are warned they may never be released.
Residents demanding Rab Brown’s removal sparked a stand-off with cops in November 2020.
The wheelchair user was moved to a relative’s home. But he was found dead days later from “methadone, heroin and etizolam intoxication”.
Six months later, the body of another suspect, Maureen McLellan, 50, was found in the city’s Maryhill.
Co-accused Steven McHendrie, 55, was also found dead in non-suspicious circumstances in January 2022 before he could stand trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
LAW CHIEF SICKENED
BY GRAHAM MANN, CRIME REPORTER
JUDGE Lord Beckett could have been forgiven for thinking he had seen and heard it all as a veteran of the criminal justice system.
But he admitted the sickening abuse of kids in the “Beastie House” was “beyond anything” in his experience.
The eight-week trial in 2023 heard questions about how cops conducted investigations.
One expert described officers’ 18 interviews with victims as a “gross violation” of guidelines.
But the horrifying circumstances were never in dispute. Even so, Owens’ gang never seemed to grasp the gravity of the charges they faced.
And they shuffled off to cells as if nicked for petty shoplifting rather than one of the worst cases of child abuse ever heard in Scots courts.
Ringleader Iain Owens, 46, was found guilty of preying on youngsters with Elaine Lannery, 40, Scott Forbes, 51, Barry Watson, 48, Lesley Ann Williams, 43, Paul Brannan, 42, and John Clark, 49. Owens, Lannery, Brannan and Williams were also nailed for attempted murder.
Marianne Gallagher, 40, was convicted of assaulting a child.
Mark Carr, 52, Richard Gachagan, 47, and Leona Laing, 53, were acquitted at the trial in 2023.
Passing sentencing last week, Judge Lord Beckett said: “Such depravity is beyond my experience.”
Glasgow’s Child Protection Committee has launched a Case Learning Review.
Police Scotland said it was “committed to protecting children from harm and abuse”.
