A prominent Tayside artist has been locked up for eight years after being convicted of the rape and abuse of young girls more than two decades ago
Derrick Heeney preyed on his victims which included claiming to help one with a broken radio.
The 62 year-old – who ran the Arts ‘n’ Frames business in Montrose – was today sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.
Heeney had previously been convicted at a trial in Edinburgh of six charges including raping two girls and sexually abusing the other.
The crimes occurred in Dundee and Forfar, Angus between 1983 and 1996.
The girls were aged between five and 13 when the attacks began.
Heeney, of Montrose, also Angus, had denied the allegations.
Lord Mulholland today told him: “Your conduct was despicable and you will now pay a heavy price.”
The judge said one victim had been “lured to a dingy flat” before being attacked.
He went on to describe Heeney’s claims as “risible”.
Jurors previously heard how he told one of the rape victms that if she got pregnant, she was to claim the father was someone else.
Wendy Hay, defending, said: “He accepts that the offences are serious and the inevitable disposal (of prison) that will follow.”
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