Findlay says decision to jail dementia sufferer is “wrong”

A pensioner has been jailed for five years for historic sex crimes, despite claims he was unable to fully understand court proceedings due to his advanced dementia.

Charles Murphy, 78, was sentenced to five years in prison by Lady Scott at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, following his conviction earlier this year for a series of sex crimes committed over the past 50 years.

He was convicted of raping a woman in Glasgow between January 1967 and December 1969, as well as indecency towards an under-age girl and an indecent assault on a man.

However, forensic scientists have said Mr Murphy could not have understood the sentencing process due to his advanced stage of dementia by the end of the trial.

Lady Scott acknowledged that Mr Murphy was in a frail condition, but considered that his interests were protected through his representation by senior counsel.

Mr Murphy’s defence counsel, Donald Findlay QC, said prison was not the right place for Mr Murphy and confirmed he will bring an appeal in the case.

Mr Findlay told the court: “There is something fundamentally wrong at the prospect of Your Ladyship addressing a man in sentence who does not have a clue what the court is talking about or why he is here.”

Mr Murphy has been added to the sex offenders’ register for life.