Girl raped while satanic child abuse ring ‘clapped and cheered’, court hears

One girl was chased by people wearing devil masks, hung by her clothing from a nail on the wall and shut in a microwave and fridge, court told

UK Independent

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Warning: This report contains distressing details

Children were forced to take part in witchcraft, seances and were sexually assaulted while members of a satanic child abuse ring watched on, a court has heard.

Eleven people are standing trial at Glasgow High Court, accused of a string of crimes, with a number facing rape and sexual assault charges, while five are accused of attempted murder.

Iain Owens (45), Elaine Lannery (39), Lesley Williams (41), Paul Brannan (41), Marianne Gallagher (38), Scott Forbes (50), Barry Watson (47), Mark Carr (49), Richard Gachagan (45), Leona Laing (50), and John Clark (46) deny all the charges, involving four children.

All eleven are accused of forcing children to participate in seances and use an ouija board or similar object to “call on spirits and demons”, at various addresses in the Glasgow area.

The children were also allegedly made to participate in classes involving witchcraft, spells and wands which made them believe that they had “metamorphosed into animals”, court documents show.

One girl was chased by people wearing devil masks, hung by her clothing from a nail on the wall, shut in a microwave, an oven, a fridge, a freezer and cupboards, the court heard.

Owens, Lannery, Williams, Brannan and Clark are also charged with attempting to murder the girl, who was also allegedly made to act like a dog and eat dog food.

The group, which is also charged with stabbing and abusing dogs, also made one child dress in lingerie and “dance in a sexualised manner” on various occasions between October 1, 2018, and June 19, 2019, the indictment claims, before she was raped by male members of the group.

The women are accused of watching, and also clapping, cheering and verbally encouraging the abuse, with some filming the attack.

Children were also allegedly forced to repeatedly sexually abuse each other.

On two occasions between January 1, 2019, and March 23, 2019, the group is alleged to have forced a boy to perform a sex act in front of them and to have sex with some of the women, while the men watched.

In another horrifying charge, a young child was restrained in her cot while men raped her, as others cheered and took video recordings, the court heard.

All 11 defendants are accused of possessing drugs, including diamorphine and cocaine, while Owens, Lannery, Williams, Brannan and Watson also face charges for supplying the Class A drugs.

Three others are also mentioned as being involved in a number of the charges, but court papers say they are now deceased.

Jurors were told today that the case, which has a 10-page indictment featuring 32 charges over a 10-year period from 2010 to 2020, could last more than six weeks.

The trial continues.