Teacher guilty of child abuse

Paul Firth abused the boys on camping trips

A former assistant head teacher and scoutmaster has been found guilty of abusing two young boys.

Paul Firth, 52, had denied charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices towards the boys who were as young as 10 at the time.

The offences took place between 1992 and 1996 at his home near Alford in Aberdeenshire and on camping trips across Scotland.

Firth was also found guilty of fleeing from justice by failing to appear for trial at the High Court in Dundee three years ago.

At the time of the abuse Firth was an assistant head teacher at St Machar Academy in Aberdeen and a scout group leader.

Camping attacks

Both his alleged victims, now in their early 20s, had slept in a tent in his garden over a period of five nights.

They declined to comment after the case but a relative of one said: "He just wants to try and get on with his life."

One had told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that he had woken on several occasions to discover Firth was fondling him.

Firth was arrested and extradited from Spain in the summer, but extradition law then meant that a further 17 charges of earlier child abuse had to be dropped.

One of those alleged victims told BBC Scotland he felt cheated by the justice system.

Firth was a professional man, with a position of trust and responsibility for children. This makes his crimes all the more deplorable Chief Inspector Harry Thorburn Grampian Police

Fiscal depute Aileen Thom, prosecuting, said in her closing speech: "Having calculated all the odds he decided to leave the country so he could not face trial and be found guilty.

"He is a cold, calculating individual.

"He sold his house, bought a boat and it took the authorities three years to get him back here."

Grampian Police Chief Inspector Harry Thorburn paid tribute to the efforts taken to bring the school teacher to justice.

"Firth was a professional man, with a position of trust and responsibility for children. This makes his crimes all the more deplorable," he said.

"I would first of all like to praise the bravery of his victims. The courage it took for them to come forward to us should not be underestimated.

"I would also like to pay tribute to the dedication of the team of officers who worked tirelessly on this investigation."

Sentence on Firth was deferred until 29 October for social inquiry reports. He was placed on the sex offenders' register and remanded in custody.