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Celtic Boys Club founder Jim Torbett guilty of abusing boys Celtic Boys Club founder Jim Torbett guilty of abusing boys
(35 minutes later)
Celtic Boys Club founder Jim Torbett has been jailed for six years after being convicted of sexually abusing three boys over an eight-year period.Celtic Boys Club founder Jim Torbett has been jailed for six years after being convicted of sexually abusing three boys over an eight-year period.
Torbett, 71, was found guilty after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow. He had denied the charges.Torbett, 71, was found guilty after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow. He had denied the charges.
Two victims had been in his under-14s football teams, while the third was abused by Torbett at the age of five.Two victims had been in his under-14s football teams, while the third was abused by Torbett at the age of five.
Lord Beckett told Torbett: "Yours is some of the most corrupting behaviour I have ever heard of in these courts."Lord Beckett told Torbett: "Yours is some of the most corrupting behaviour I have ever heard of in these courts."
He added: "Your depraved conduct towards innocent children has blighted their lives." He added: "You groomed boys and contrived situations when you could abuse them. Your depraved conduct towards innocent children has blighted their lives."
The judge told Torbett that Celtic Boys Club had given opportunities to hundreds of aspiring young footballers.The judge told Torbett that Celtic Boys Club had given opportunities to hundreds of aspiring young footballers.
But he added: "You used the club as a front for child sexual abuse."But he added: "You used the club as a front for child sexual abuse."
There were tears in the public gallery as the verdict was announced, and emotional scenes in the foyer of the court as those affected by the case embraced each other.There were tears in the public gallery as the verdict was announced, and emotional scenes in the foyer of the court as those affected by the case embraced each other.
Jurors had heard that Torbett, of Kelvindale, Glasgow, targeted the schoolboys between August 1986 and August 1994. Torbett, of Kelvindale, Glasgow, was found guilty of five abuse charges between August 1986 and August 1994.
His victims included youth players Kenny Campbell and Andrew Gray, who had waived their right to anonymity. Torbett had previously been jailed for two years in 1998 for abusing three young Celtic Boys Club players between 1967 and 1974.
Mr Gray died last year, but statements he gave to police before his death were read out during the trial. He had been living in California when the further allegations of abuse came to light.
The third victim said he had been abused as a five-year-old when he visited the Trophy Centre in Glasgow, which was owned by Torbett. Victim Kenny Campbell broke his silence in a BBC documentary, Football Abuse: The Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game.
A month after the documentary was broadcast, the BBC tracked Torbett down to California and put the claims to him in a dramatic confrontation.
Within hours of that footage being broadcast, Torbett was escorted to the airport by US Homeland Security. He was arrested on his return to Scotland.
During the trial, Mr Campbell told jurors how he played for Celtic Boys Club when he was 14.
He said Torbett - who was also the manager - had been his "hero" and that he would have "run through walls for him".
However, he said Torbett then went on to abuse him, including one attack while on a Celtic Boys Club trip to Noyon in France.
Mr Gray died last year following a swimming pool accident in Australia.
However, statements he gave to police before his death were read out during the trial.
The 41-year-old told officers he was first abused by Torbett after training, and that he had not known what was happening.
He told police: "I can still remember lying in bed that night thinking: 'Is that how adults act?'."
Mr Gray said he was also attacked in Torbett's Glasgow flat, and that he would be dropped from the team if he did not agree to his demands.
His sister, Michelle Gray, told BBC Scotland it was important to get "justice" for her brother - and for Torbett to "know the pain and suffering that he caused Andrew".
The final victim, now aged 35, told the trial how he was abused at the Trophy Centre business which Torbett ran in the Pollokshaws area of Glasgow.
He said he was attacked while on his own with Torbett.
Torbett had branded the victims "liars" and said allegations were like "something out of fairytales".