Home / Crime and Justice / Abuse victims spared jail after years of terror
Abuse victims spared jail after years of terror
24 Aug
Summary
- Three adults avoided jail for years of child abuse.
- Victims suffered starvation, beatings, and torment.
- Sentences included unpaid work and probation.
A mother, grandmother, and stepfather have avoided jail time after years of severe abuse against three children. The victims were subjected to physical beatings, starvation, and psychological torment over a nine-year period, from 2003 to 2012, in what was described as a "house of terror."
The perpetrators, Shirley Freeman, Julia Stephen, and David McColl, faced charges related to cruel and unnatural treatment. McColl admitted to the crimes, while Freeman and Stephen were found guilty. The abuse occurred at addresses in Balloch, Dunbartonshire, and Aberdeen.
At Aberdeen Sheriff Court, the sentences were delivered as direct alternatives to custody. McColl received 220 hours of unpaid work and 18 months probation, along with an 11-month restriction of liberty order. Stephen was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and received 18 months probation. Freeman was sentenced to 18 months probation, 240 hours of unpaid work, and a 12-month restriction of liberty order. Sheriff Craig Findlater acknowledged that no sentence could mend the children's "awful childhoods."
