Karate pervert faces prison for child sex abuse
April 18, 2003
A CONVICTED paedophile is facing another stint behind bars for sexually abusing two youngsters.
Ex-karate instructor James Braidwood, 45, of Knightswood, was found guilty after conducting a reign of terror on a boy and girl who visited his club.
The trial heard the depths of depravity Braidwood sunk to included trying to drug and abuse the boy, aged just five. The 20-stone brute lied: “I did not touch them. I do not know what sort of person would do that to a child.” But, it later emerged, Braidwood was caged for 18 months in 1988 for similar offences against another little boy believed to be a member of his martial arts club. The pervert had been preying on the three youngsters at the same time, but it was not until 2001 before this pair told police. A relative of one of the victims branded him “the lowest of the low”. Glasgow Sheriff Court heard the pair went to the club near his home in the city’s west end between 1986 and 1988. The court heard their mum then trusted him to pick them up from school while she worked.
But they would go back to his flat and both admitted the abuse went on regularly. Some members of the jury wept as the man - now 22 - described how Braidwood tried to knock him out him before abusing him. Shaking heavily in the witness box, he said: "He brought out this bottle and asked me to take a deep breath. “It smelt like a permanent ink marker, but only stronger and I felt dizzy, really dizzy.”
The woman - now 26 - told how Braidwood paraded naked in front of her and “done things an adult should not do”. She said: “I just tried to block out what was happening. He was such a cold-hearted man and I was scared of him.” Braidwood - who also worked for the Salvation Army and latterly ran an ice cream van - claimed he had a great friendship with the children. He told Laura Miller, prosecuting, they had joined him on a holiday to Ibiza and he had also taken them to burger bars and swimming baths. His wife booted him out of their home prior to him being jailed in 1988. However, he claimed he was “dumbfounded” when the latest allegations were made. The victims spoke out because they could no longer live with the trauma but admitted they were unaware that each other had suffered. Braidwood, of Glaive Road, Knightswood, was found guilty on two counts of shameless indecency.
Sentencing was deferred until next month for reports.