Child indecency verdict quashed

Appeal court judges ruled part of Thomson's conviction be quashed

A man jailed for trying to abduct young girls and indecently assaulting one of them has had part of his conviction quashed by appeal court judges.

James Thomson, of Kelso, appealed against both his conviction and the five-year prison term he received.

Lord Clarke said that remarks by the sheriff misdirected the jury and resulted in a miscarriage of justice.

He quashed his conviction for putting his hand in one young girl's trousers. Appeal against sentence was continued.

Thomson was jailed for five years at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in 2006.

He was found guilty after trial of trying to abduct young girls and indecently assaulting one of them in the Borders town of Kelso on 1 June that year.

The pensioner was jailed for four years for five offences involving children and one year on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

However, appeal judges have ruled that one of his six convictions - on a charge that he put his hand inside a seven-year-old girl's trousers and touched her private parts - could not stand.

His appeal against sentence will now be heard at a later date.