A man who preyed on a young girl in Dunfermline’s Pittencrieff Park a quarter of a century ago is finally facing justice for his crimes.
His victim, who was 12 years old at the time, broke down in tears in court after Richard Brockie, 77, admitted to past sex offences.
She said she had come to court to see justice being done.
And she criticised defence solicitor Stephen Morrison, who highlighted the fact Brockie’s offences happened 25 years ago.
“That doesn’t matter, I’m still living with it,” she said.
“I’ll be writing to the sheriff on the impact this has had on me.”
Brockie, of Katrine Crescent in Kirkcaldy, admitted that between March 16 1990 and September 3 1991 he used lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour towards a girl and carried out a solo sex act in her presence in the park.
The victim used to meet her friends in the park every Saturday afternoon and Brockie, dubbed “Randy Andy” by the girls, would often speak to them.
She said: “We were naive, just 12 when it started. We thought he was just a friendly old man. He would look like he was drunk but I think that was an act.
“When I reported this to the police I didn’t even know his real name. I just knew him as ‘Andy’ and that he used to drink in Raffles pub back at that time.”
The victim said she decided to report the matter to police after her own daughter was involved in an incident with a suspected sex offender.
Asked how the experiences in the park still affected her, the woman said she had endured sleepless nights.
“It all started to affect me when I became a mum myself and I can’t get the vision of him out of my mind.
“I knew I had to report it to stop these people getting away with it. When all the cases came out with Jimmy Savile, Max Clifford and the others on TV, it blew my head, thinking about it all.”
Depute fiscal Claire Bremner told Dunfermline Sheriff Court: “The first occasion which caused alarm took place in the springtime of 1990.
The complainer was within the park along with her friends when she encountered the accused.
Ms Bremner said Brockie was under the influence of alcohol at the time and that during the course of the encounter carried out a solo sex act in the presence of the complainer.
The behaviour occurred on a number of occasions, she added.
He will be sentenced on April 20.