Child sex abuse victims 'failed', says minister

The victims of one of Scotland's biggest child sex abuse rings were "failed", the Scottish government has said.

The seven members of the gang were given life-long sentences after three victims under the age of 13 were subjected to sexual abuse and violence in Glasgow over a seven-year period.

Children's minister Natalie Don-Innes described the case as "horrifying" and said the government was working to ensure "nothing like this ever happens again".

Opposition MSPs accused the government of failing to take urgent action.

Don-Innes told MSPs: "This case absolutely horrifies me and there is no getting away from the fact that these children were failed."

However, the SNP-run government was already working to acting to protect children, she added

"Keeping children safe is an utmost priority and ministers are working closely with partners to prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation in all forms and support victims and their families," the minister said.

She welcomed an independent review of the Glasgow Child Protection Committee which she said would help improve safeguarding across the country.

"I'm confident we will learn lessons from the failings here and what we can do to protect children in the future," Don-Innes said.

She told MSPs the government had set up the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group, as well as a taskforce to tackle online harms.

She also pointed to work to fulfil The Promise, a flagship scheme under Nicola Sturgeon's government to improve the lives of care-experienced children and young people.

The minister added that she was happy to look into what urgent action could be taken "over and above" the steps she had outlined.

Her comments came in response to criticism from opposition MSPs.

Alba's Ash Regan, asking an urgent question in parliament, said the case "reeks of institutional failures".

She said the children were "failed" despite being on the child protection register, being absent from school and showing "blatant" signs of neglect.

"The Scottish government has presided over this catastrophic failure at every single level," Regan added.

She called for urgent action to address "serious safeguarding failures".

Labour MSP Pauline McNeill questioned why the abuse was not detected earlier, adding: "Surely the minister is not satisfied simply to leave it to a case-led review to give us some answers to that key question."

Conservative Douglas Ross said there was "nothing urgent" about the government's response.

"We have an independent review that doesn't have a chair, that we don't know when they will report."

Gang members Iain Owens, 46; Elaine Lannery, 40; Lesley Williams, 43; Paul Brannan, 42; Scott Forbes, 51; Barry Watson, 48, and John Clark, 49, were jailed for between eight and 20 years and handed orders for lifelong restriction on Monday.

They subjected their victims to what police called "unimaginable abuse" in a Glasgow drug den dubbed "the beastie house".

The lifelong orders are reserved for the most serious court cases in Scotland which do not involve murder, and mean the individual will either be in prison or on parole for the rest of their life.

Judge Lord Beckett told the gang, whose jail sentences totalled more than 93 years, that they may never be released from prison.