Man jailed for sexual abuse in Paisley dating back to 1966

A man who sexually abused a woman almost 60 years ago has been jailed.

David Corrigan attacked three victims in Paisley, Renfrewshire, over a near 40-year period between 1966 and 2005.

The 71-year-old admitted three charges of lewd and libidinous behaviour at an earlier hearing.

He was sentenced to seven years and two months at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Corrigan targeted his first victim at a house party in 1966 when he exposed himself to the girl, who was in a bedroom with another girl, before running off when she screamed.

Prosecutor Eric Robertson said Corrigan’s behaviour later “escalated” to include him “inappropriately touching” her after grabbing her by the arms and throwing her across a room.

She told the court Corrigan would “get annoyed” if she did not obey him during the four-year period of abuse.

Mr Robertson said Corrigan was once caught abusing the girl by his own father, who dragged his son away from her.

A second victim said she suffered a similar ordeal, adding Corrigan would also repeatedly show her pornographic magazines.

His third victim said she was “groped” by Corrigan on the chest more than 10 years after he had previously targeted her while she slept next to her mother.

The court heard that incident had caused “flashbacks” to what had happened when she was younger and she reported them to police in November 2023.

Corrigan initially told police the first two victims had “asked him” to expose himself.

However, he said the third victim “would not lie” so her allegations “must be true” despite not recalling the incident himself.

Sentencing, Lord Doherty told Corrigan his behaviour had affected his victim’s wellbeing and “their ability to make the most of life opportunities presented to them”.

Corrigan was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.