Cumbernauld man found guilty of raping two teenage sisters

Ronald Garland had claimed he found the thought of the girls being sexually abused while in his care “disgusting” and strenuously denied raping them.

However a jury at the High Court in Livingston believed the evidence of his two victims, the older of whom is now aged 23.

Jurors took five hours to return majority verdicts finding Garland guilty of two counts of rape and three of causing the older of the children to be present while he engaged in sexual activity.

Garland, of Castle View, Cumbernauld, committed the offences at various addresses in East Dunbartonshire between 2010 and 2014.

Judge Lord Woolman added the 43-year-old’s name to the sex offenders’ register with immediate effect.

And he ordered his clerk to notify Scottish Ministers of the conviction under Protection of Vulnerable Groups legislation.

He told Garland: “As you are no doubt aware these charges, in particular six and nine involving the rape of the two teenagers, are extremely serious offences which have devastated your victims and the lives of your family and yourself.

“I need to adjourn the case for sentencing in order to obtain a criminal justice social work report.Meantime you’ll be remanded in custody.”

Garland and his wife pressed their hands together on opposite sides of the glass separating the dock from the public gallery before he was led to the cells.

During Garland's trial, the court heard evidence that the older sister was aged between 10 and 15 when he raped and abused her.

Evidence of his sexual assault on the second girl only emerged after she passed a note to a social worker saying: “He made me have sex with him when I was 11”.

Following the verdicts, advocate depute Graham Jessop moved for sentence and revealed that Garland had a criminal record which included two convictions for assault in 2009 and 2010 but no previous sexual convictions.

Asked about victim impact statements he said he would pass any that became available prior to sentence being passed at the High Court in Inverness on 14 January 2022.