Child rape charge dropped

The court has heard almost three weeks of evidence

A man has had a charge of raping an 11-year-old schoolgirl in the grounds of a library dropped.

However John Bermingham, 35, still stands accused at the High Court in Edinburgh of attempting to rape the youngster.

The charge was reduced at the end of the Crown case when other allegations were also dropped or changed.

The girl said she was approached in library grounds

The incident is alleged to have happened in the grounds of Newington Library in the city.

Charges of spying on a 12-year-old girl as she undressed in her Glasgow home and of indecency with a 10-year-old girl were also dropped.

Further charges of raping a 15-year-old girl in a field in the Penicuik area in Midlothian and near Bonaly Park, Edinburgh, were reduced to allegations of attempted rape.

Allegations of struggling with police, attempting to throw a detective's notebook from a police car window and refusing to co-operate with an identity parade were also dropped against Bermingham, formerly of Muirhouse, in Edinburgh.

The court heard evidence spanning almost three weeks, which included a video of a 30-mile high-speed car chase along Loch Lomondside, which led to arrest.

The schoolgirl, who is now 12, told the High Court via closed circuit camera link how her alleged ordeal began when an unshaven man grabbed her from behind as she returned home from a dance class.

Nursing assistant

She said he tried to have sex with her, ignoring pleas to let her go because she would be late for her parents' dinner party.

The court heard that Bermingham allegedly carried out another sex attack an hour earlier.

He was alleged to have grabbed an 18-year-old nursing assistant as she left the city's Cameron Toll shopping centre and dragged her into bushes.

Bermingham has denied the attack on the 11-year-old and also denied assaulting the 18-year-old with intent to rape her.

He said he was in Glasgow at the time of the incidents in November 2000.

He has also denied driving dangerously before his arrest.

The trial continues.