Rutherglen parents criticise council over lack of information on paedo case details
Nov 14 2012
By Will Henshaw
Parents of the nursery where paedophile Alexander Mortimer worked have hit out for the council after apparently failing to keep them informed of his case details.
Earlier this month sick Mortimer, who previously stayed in Rutherglen, had his sentence reduced from eight years and 11 months to five years and 11 months, meaning he could be back on the streets by mid 2014.
Paedophile Mortimer, 28, amassed a hoard of vile child pornography and molested kids.
As details on Mortimer’s depraved acts came to light, parents of the nursery, which cannot be named for legal reasons, received a letter from South Lanarkshire Council dated 29 March 2012 sent to parents that said: “We will continue to liaise with the Procurator Fiscal on this issue and keep you informed of any developments as best we can.”
However some parents have claimed they have had no contact with the council over details of Mortimer’s court apparences, sentencing, the subsequent appeal, or the council’s internal investigation.
One grandmother of a child at the nursery said: “I can inform you that “best we can” has resulted in no correspondence since that date. No trial date, no details of sentencing, no appeal and no details of the Council’s internal investigation. My son has already informally contacted his local councillor about the lack of information from the Council, and has not had a reply to date.
“Finally, if I had not received information from Google, I would probably not have heard about the sentence being reduced. In this instance, it is just as well the Rutherglen Reformer can highlight such issues as I suspect many more parents are unaware of the situation.”
A mum whose child also attends the nursery said: ““The short answer is yes I think the council should have told us. I’m surprised that once again we have to hear it through the media.
“I suppose it is one of these things that needs to be sensitively handled.”
Council leader Eddie McAvoy said if the PF had let the council know about the appeal then that information should have been relayed to the parents.
He said: “If the council knew about it (the appeal) and if they had any information it should have been sent out to the parents as soon as they received it.”
A South Lanarkshire Council spokesperson said: “We are continuing to give ongoing support to the nursery community which will continue as long as is necessary.
“We have shared information with parents as far as we were able to do so.
