Brian McCulloch, a paedophile from Prestwick, is accused of historical sexual attacks on five girls, including one as young as four, resulting in one claimed victim experiencing nightmares, according to court testimony.
Brian McCulloch refutes 11 accusations of lascivious, obscene, and libidinous conduct, as well as sexual attacks on minors under the age of 13.
The 50-year-old entered a plea of not guilty to all charges, and his jury trial commenced this week at Ayr Sheriff Court.
Jury members reviewed recorded police interviews with two teenage ladies, accompanied by cross-examination, conducted at a pre-recorded commission hearing held remotely in the same court.
A girl accused Brian McCulloch of assaulting her repeatedly from the ages of five to fifteen.
She said: “He sexually abused me, obviously I couldn’t consent.
“He told me I was ‘special’.
“There was no one around when this happened. I had my face forward. He was squatting and wearing jeans. He put his hand in my underwear, touching my downstairs area.
“I didn’t understand – he told me to ‘wash your hands’.”
She alleged on another occasion that the accused said ‘I’m not going to leave the room until you kiss me’.
The complainer said: “I kissed him then he left.”
She added: “I said to leave me alone but he kept doing it.
“I [later] told him it was wrong and wanted him to leave me alone and he went very crabbit with me. “
The witness claimed that Brian McCulloch said if she told her family “they wouldn’t believe you, not love you anymore and think you’re dirty”, adding, “so I just never told anyone”.
She said: “I eventually told my boyfriend when having nightmares.
“He was aware I would have panic attacks. I would have nightmares saying ‘there’s a man watching me, there’s a man there’. I was scared he would come back.
“I felt really uncomfortable about people touching me.”
She replied “very much so” when asked if she disagreed with Brian McCulloch’s position that the alleged offences did not happen.
A second teenage witness told police she had been indecently assaulted from ages eight to 10.
She said: “He would make me lay on the floor, he would look at my bum then touch me.
“He would stick his hand on my bum then rub it, and just be a weirdo.”
Asked where this was she pointed to her crotch area and stated it felt ‘weird’.
“It just didn’t feel right,” she added. “One time I asked ‘what are you doing’ and he said ‘it doesn’t matter’.
“I felt scared and weird.”
The Crown alleges that Brian McCulloch sexually assaulted one young girl on various occasions between December 2005 and November 2010 at an address in Ayr.
A second charge on the indictment accuses him of sexually assaulting the same girl on various occasions between December 2010 and December 2013.
Brian McCulloch is further alleged to have engaged in sexual activity with the same girl between December 2013 and December 2016.
Separately, the accused is said to have sexually assaulted a second girl between July 2006 and July 2010 at various locations in Ayr, including at what was then the town’s Odeon cinema.
He faces further charges of sexual assault against the same girl between July and November 2010, and again between December 2010 and July 2011. It’s alleged that Brian McCulloch engaged in sexual activity with a third girl in Ayr over a two-year period between July 2011 and July 2013.
A further charge accuses him of sexually assaulting one young girl between July 2017 and July 2020.
The Crown also alleges that he sexually assaulted another girl between May 2017 and May 2020.
The final charge accuses Brian McCulloch, of Arran Park, of sexually assaulting a girl as young as four on various occasions, and as recently as 2022.
Brian McCulloch, who is represented by defence advocate Colin Neilson and solicitor Katherine Grant, denies the allegations.
The trial before Sheriff Desmond Leslie continues.
UPDATE 18.12.24
Brian McCulloch was added to the sex offenders register and will be sentenced next year after the verdicts were returned this morning (Tuesday, December 17).
The 50-year-old, previously of Catrine, had denied the allegations, with jury members hearing the abuse left one victim suffering nightmares while another told of being assaulted in Ayr’s former Odeon cinema while watching Harry Potter.
The court listened to recorded police interviews with young females, with cross-examination completed during a pre-recorded commission hearing held remotely in the same court.
One of the women later gave evidence in person, stating “that’s incorrect”, when defence advocate Colin Neilson put Brian McCulloch’s denials to her.
One girl told police Brian McCulloch assaulted her on numerous occasions from age five to 15. She said: “He sexually abused me, obviously I couldn’t consent.
“I didn’t understand.”
The witness claimed that Brian McCulloch said if she told her family “they wouldn’t believe you, not love you anymore and think you’re dirty”, adding, “so I just never told anyone”.
She said: “I eventually told my boyfriend when having nightmares. He was aware I would have panic attacks.”
A second teenage witness told police she had been indecently assaulted from ages eight to 10.
“He would stick his hand on my bum then rub it, and just be a weirdo.”
“It just didn’t feel right,” she added. “One time I asked ‘what are you doing’ and he said ‘it doesn’t matter’.”
We previously reported one of the young women, now in her 20s, told the court Brian McCulloch had abused her on multiple occasions, including while she was in his care as they watched a Harry Potter film in the town’s cinema.
When the accused’s denials were put to her by the defence advocate, she responded “That’s incorrect”, “again that’s incorrect” and “that’s a lie”.
The jury heard a recorded interview when the youngest complainer told police: “I didn’t like him. He touched my full body and I didn’t like it.”
Another complainer told officers: “I remember him running his hands up and down my body, I don’t remember if it happened more [than once], but remember him doing it. His hands were rough like sandpaper, he was a bit rough, he wasn’t gentle. It was as if he was feeling me. I wish he wasn’t alive.”
Taking the stand in his defence last Thursday, Brian McCulloch branded the accusations “rubbish”.
He said: “I wouldn’t do anything like that to a child” adding any physical contact “would have been a tickle if carrying on”.
McCulloch added: “I’ve had my front door kicked in and people threatening me, it’s just been a nightmare.
“I can not think of one reason why the allegations have been made. The allegations have really affected my life.”
Under cross-examination from procurator fiscal depute Craig Wainwright, he told the court the claims were “all lies” and when asked if one of the girls wished he was dead because he ‘sexually abused her’, he said “no”.
He was found guilty by majority of sexually assaulting one girl on various occasions between December 2005 and November 2010 at an address in Ayr.
He was found unanimously guilty of a second charge of sexually assaulting the same girl on various occasions between December 2010 and December 2013.
The jury found Brian McCulloch unanimously guilty of sexual activity with the same girl between December 2013 and December 2016.
He was found guilty unanimously of sexually assaulting the second girl between July 2006 and July 2010 at various locations in Ayr.
He was found guilty by majority of sexual assault against the same girl between July and November 2010, and unanimously on incidents between December 2010 and July 2011.
The jury unanimously found Brian McCulloch guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a third girl in Ayr between July 2011 and July 2013.
He was found guilty by majority of sexually assaulting another young girl between July 2017 and July 2020 and between May 2017 and May 2020.
He was found guilty by majority of the final charge of sexually assaulting a girl as young as four on various occasions, and as recently as 2022.
Defence solicitor Tony Currie told the court Brian McCulloch had “no other matters outstanding” and “understands your lordship will require background reports”.
Sentencing was deferred for social work reports and a risk assessment, while bail was continued for the Arran Park resident.
He will return to Ayr Sheriff Court for sentencing next year.
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