A paedophile motorsports business owner from Angus who befriended a family before using the children as his “playthings” has been jailed for nearly 12 years.
Colin Bandeen from Kirriemuir was convicted last month of sexually abusing four children and behaving indecently towards two others.
The 63-year-old, who worked in the oil industry in the Far East before setting up a motorcycle business on Tayside, got access to several of his victims through a contact involved in the Church of Scotland.
He appeared for sentencing for his two decades of crime at the High Court in Kilmarnock on Friday.
Bandeen appeared via video link from HMP Glenochil. He showed no emotion.
Judge Lord Cubie told him: “They were literally your playthings.
“You treated those you chose for your own amusement without any reflection for the damage you were causing or intended to cause.
“The behaviour was not some collection of opportunistic episodes.
“It was the result of long-term grooming of that family.
“You befriended the father and used, to some extent, the cloak of the church.
“You were a regular Friday visitor to the house in Kirriemuir.
“Knowing their financial vulnerability, you would buy the family shopping and treats.
“You would provide alcohol for the father until he became drunk or drowsy.
“You blighted the rest of their lives. The effect on the family is seismic.”
Destroyed family’s lives
Bandeen stood trial at the High Court in Stirling.
The trial heard Bandeen supplied a poverty-stricken single dad with food and alcohol and abused two boys from the ages of eight and nine.
He took the boys to “Jeep Fests” in England three times, abusing them in hotel rooms.
The abuse continued until the older one was 14 and the younger one for longer, until he was 16.
Bandeen then targeted their younger sister, including once trying to coerce her and a male schoolfriend to have sex with each other when they were only 13, while he waited in another room in his elderly parents’ Forfar home.
Social workers stepped in when he tried to take the youngsters to Malaysia.
Bandeen continued to sexually abuse the girl’s schoolfriend, exploiting his interest in motorsports.
He raped him at the age of 14 and indecently assaulted him while giving him “driving lessons” at 15.
The boy contacted police years later and said he had not previously revealed the abuse as he was “embarrassed and ashamed”.
After the four-day trial, a jury found Bandeen guilty of six charges of sexually assaulting or abusing three boys and indecently assaulting one by raping him.
He was also found guilty of three charges of using lewd and libidinous behaviour towards the girl and boy and two charges of stalking the parents of five children in Angus and Fife.
Another charge of stalking was found not proven and he was found not guilty of committing a statutory breach of the peace.
Sentencing
The court heard on Friday the victims have suffered regular flashbacks, issues at school and in the care system, relationship problems and depression, with some expressing suicidal thoughts.
Bandeen continues to deny the allegations and was said to have been uncooperative with the Tay Project assessment for sex offenders.
He is considered a high-risk to children due to his lack of insight and responsibility.
“The damage is not just to a collection of individuals,” Lord Cubie added.
“You destroyed a family unit.
“Against a background of no insight, no remorse, no reflection, no acceptance of any wrongdoing, I consider that there are ongoing concerns about the risk you pose.
“The sentence of imprisonment requires to be significant.”
He was sentenced to a total of 11 years and nine months with an extended two-year sentence upon his release from custody.
He is on the sex offenders register for life.
Defence counsel Paul Nelson KC said: “He disagrees with the verdict the jury reached. He maintains his innocence.”
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