John Smart, a preacher who stood as a Conservative candidate for Holyrood was in court accused of a 15 year campign of child abuse. Smart, 48 at the time of his court hearing, preyed on three youngsters he met at the Edinburgh City Mission. He began abusing one of his victims when the boy was just 3 years old.

Smart met his victims at the City Mission, and their unsuspecting parents believed he was a devout Christian and let him take the youngsters to playparks and swimming pools. Instead, Smart, of Christian Crescent, Edinburgh, used the time to carry out the abuse.

Smart persuaded the parents of his victims to let him take the two boys and a girl on trips, where hw would have free reign to abuse the children.

The mum of the two boys he targeted said: "It didn't cross my mind that anything like that would be happening." adding "If you thought something like that would was going to happen, you would not put them in that position. You trust someone."

The shocked mother only began to suspect what had happened a decade after the abuse. She added "They didn't want me to find out anything. I was never keen on talking to the boys about sexual stuff."

Smart's female victim said he had targeted her after she went into her room for Bible study. He preyed on her for five years from her eighth birthday.

Her medical records showed she had been abused and suspicions about Smart, a Tory candidate in 2003 who also stood for the Democratic Unionist Party, led to his arrest. The pervert had denied attacking the children and claimed that he had "no sex drive whatsoever" and was impotent. He insisted he had suffered from the problem for a long time and he had been forced to break off his engagement to a woman because of it.

During his trial, he denied the offences and claimed he could not have carried out the assaults because of a medical problem, but at the High Court in Perth in December 2017, the 48-year-old was found guilty of five charges of abuse between 1987 and 2002 in Edinburgh, Leith, Peebles and Perth.

The former ScotRail train conductor admitted seeing his GP about being impotent within weeks of being told about the child abuse allegations, but he denied that the problem had only started in middle age.

He claimed he didn't know why the three victims had made the allegations against him and he had been "totally shocked" when he was arrested by police.

Smart, who has led anti-homosexuality demonstrations, claimed he had been targeted because he was so outspoken against such lifestyle choices.

At the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lady Dorrian placed Smart on the sex offenders register and ordered him to be monitored in the community for three years after his release.

Lady Dorrian told Smart "These offences were planned, intrusive and involved a significant degree of planning." she added "Your victims were vulnerable. You pose a sufficiently significant risk to children to merit a lengthy sentence."

Solicitor advocate John Keenan, defending, said that Smart, a first offender, continued to protest his innocence.

Smart was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

A YOUNG woman sexually abused as a child by a paedophile preacher and former Tory Holyrood candidate has been found dead – a week after he began an eight-year jail sentence.

The body of Rachel Crawford was found by police after they had to break into her flat. A postmortem is being carried out. The 22-year-old, of Craigour, Edinburgh, gave evidence against her abuser John Smart at the High Court in Perth.

Last night, her mother Sandra Turpin said Rachel, who had epilepsy, may have suffered a seizure on Thursday when she died. She said she held Smart partly responsible for her daughter's death.

Mrs Turpin said "I can't help but ask myself where is the justice in this?" added "John Smart is alive in prison and Rachel is dead. I can’t help but hold him in part responsible. It’s very strange that Rachel’s seizures started around the same time as the abuse started."

"I will not see my daughter again and my heart is breaking in two."

"There had been no contact from her all day and no response to calls, which was out of character. She may have had a seizure." she added "I want Smart to know she is dead, to search his conscience and to own up to what he has done."

A former Conservative parliamentary hopeful, Smart, 48, abused three children, including Rachel, during a 15-year reign of terror.

The lay preacher met the children through charity Edinburgh City Mission.

After being found guilty by a jury of the abuse from 1987 to 2002 in Edinburgh, Leith, Peebles and Perth, Smart was jailed and placed on the sex offenders register. One of the boys he abused was just three at the time.

Smart stood as a Tory candidate for election to the Scottish Parliament in 2003, months after abusing Rachel at his home.