Victim of Clermiston care home child abuser sues Edinburgh Council for £250,000

Twisted Gordon Knott has been jailed twice for sickening assaults on youngsters who were in council-run care homes.

The victim – who cannot be named for legal reasons – saw his life descend into alcoholism and has never been able to work after Knott targeted him when he was just five years old.

He told one friend: “That monster stole my life – he destroyed me as a human being. I am ruined by him.”

Digby Brown Solicitors has lodged a damages action at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

They have demanded the City of Edinburgh Council pay the victim, who now lives in Ireland, £250,000. Specialist abuse lawyer, Kim Leslie said: “We can confirm we are pursuing a claim of historic abuse against Edinburgh City Council who we believe are vicariously liable for crimes committed by Gordon Knott.

“In the interests of protecting the privacy of our client who has bravely stepped forward, and the fact our investigations are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

The claim relates to Knott’s abuse at Clerwood Children’s Home in Clermiston between 1973 and 1977 where he terrorised youngsters.

Knott was convicted at High Court in Edinburgh in February 2018 – and was jailed for a second time for sexually assaulting children in his care.

The victim was repeatedly sexually assaulted between the ages of five and nine years old. He suffers Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which left him dependant on alcohol and lost earnings through being unable to work.

Knott was jailed for four years last March – a decade after he was released from prison for identical crimes.

The serial abuser was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 1997 after he was convicted of ten sex crimes against eight boys and a girl in Clerwood and Glenallan children’s homes in the 1970s and 1980s.

Knott’s latest conviction came after two new victims contacted police.

The 65-year-old was one of the first male house parents to be employed in Edinburgh children’s homes to look after disadvantaged and vulnerable children. Despite the previous abuse conviction he refused to plead guilty, forcing his victims into the witness box to relive their torment at being forced to carry out sex acts.

Knott was found guilty of three charges of indecency against the two victims committed at Clerwood and at an address in the Liberton area between 1973 and 1981.

Jailing him, trial judge Lady Scott told Knott: “You have been convicted by the jury of the repeated, calculated and predatory sexual abuse of two young boys while you were responsible for their care in a children’s home.”

Lady Scott pointed out that the former house father had terrified victims and rather than protecting them he had abused them.

A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson last night said: “Due to ongoing legal proceedings it would be inappropriate to comment.”