A man identified as Marc Sherland, 70, has been sentenced to five years in prison for indecently assaulting three teenage boys between 1988 and 1990. Sherland, who previously changed his name, was convicted in May of these offenses.
He had initially been convicted in 1991 for abusing two boys, aged eight and 10, while working as a youth worker in Paisley. Following this conviction, he altered his name and became involved in promoting Burns' poetry and the Scots language, eventually leading the Robert Burns World Federation. A sheriff at Paisley Sheriff Court ordered that Sherland would serve five years in prison, followed by three years of supervision.
One of the victims, identified as Peter, was 16 when he met Sherland, then known as Douglas Stuart Hammond, through community programs. Peter, now 52, testified that the assault occurred in 1990 at Sherland's home in Paisley. He reported the incident to the police after discussing the long-suppressed memory with a mental health worker approximately 35 years later. He described grappling with guilt and shame related to the assault.