Ex-policeman jailed a second time for child abuse

A former police officer has been jailed for a second time after sexually abusing teenage Air Training Corps cadets in Fife more than 50 years ago.

Colin Fowler, 81, plied the youngsters with alcohol before subjecting them to abuse after meeting them through the group.

He was jailed in 2018 for sex offences against two boys but was released on licence in 2021.

The latest victim to come forward was a teenager who was assaulted in 1987.

He was subjected to two indecent assaults by Fowler after he was invited to the policeman's then home in Anstruther after being offered alcohol.

The judge, Lord Armstrong, jailed Fowler for 16 months and told him his offending had "devastating and ongoing, long-term consequences" for the victim.

"I am satisfied that in your case there is no appropriate alternative disposal to one of imprisonment," he said.

Lord Armstrong said that in sentencing Fowler for the latest crimes to emerge, he took into account his age, health, the historical nature of the offending and that they were in effect a continuation of the course of conduct he was jailed for previously.

Fowler had denied the sex offending against the two former cadets at his earlier trial in 2018, but was unanimously found guilty of the charges against the boys who were aged between 13 and 16 at the time.

His earliest attack dates back to 1972. He admitted carrying out two indecent assaults against the third victim, who was 17 to 18, between January and December in 1982 at his former home in the Fife village.

Fowler was serving with Fife Constabulary at the time of the crimes and was a cadet leader at RAF Pitreavie, at Dunfermline, Fife.

The prosecutor said the latest victim to come forward knew of Fowler's connection with the police and did not think he would be believed if he told anyone what had happened to him.

However, he said he did call Dunfermline police station in the 1980s to report Fowler, but did not receive a call back. He contacted Police Scotland after he found out about Fowler's conviction in 2018.

The defence said Fowler, who was placed on the sex offenders register would be able to pay compensation as part of a non-custodial disposal.