A prisoner who was serving 15 years in jail for sexually abusing six young girls has died, with unconfirmed reports saying he had symptoms of Covid-19.
Former RAF serviceman Gordon Pinkerton, 75, was a prisoner at HMP Dumfries after he was found guilty of sexually abusing six young girls in 2013.
Gordon Pinkerton, Aberdeen, sexually assaulted the girls from 1963 to 2011 across Scotland.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Thousands order home testing kits within minutes of Government website launch
The Scottish Prison Service released a statement saying:
“Gordon Pinkerton, 75, a prisoner at HMP Dumfries has died. He was convicted at Glasgow High Court in 2013. Police Scotland have been informed and the matter reported to the Procurator Fiscal. A Fatal Accident Inquiry will be held in due course.”
Sentencing Pinkerton, judge Lord Matthews told him in 2013: "You were convicted of what can only be described as an appalling catalogue of abuse of vulnerable young girls.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Nicola Sturgeon: Lockdown exit will be 'more challenging' for police enforcement
"You have maintained a denial throughout.
"I have received impact statements from your victims and they say what you did to them has blighted their lives. That is hardly surprising.
"I am told that you are at high risk of re-offending, which is also not surprising given that the offences began in 1963 and ran to 2011."
News from trusted and credible sources is essential at all times, but especially now as the coronavirus pandemic impacts on all aspects of our lives. To make sure you stay informed during this difficult time our coverage of the crisis is free.
However, producing The Herald's unrivalled analysis, insight and opinion on a daily basis still costs money and, as our traditional revenue streams collapse, we need your support to sustain our quality journalism.
To help us get through this, we’re asking readers to take a digital subscription to The Herald. You can sign up now for just £2 for two months.
If you choose to sign up, we’ll offer a faster loading, advert-light experience – and deliver a digital version of the print product to your device every day. Click here to help The Herald.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel