Musselburgh: Residents' protest to have child sex offender Graham Brown moved

About 20 homeowners carrying homemade banners protested against Graham Brown being housed near to them when they congregated outside a council building in Musselburgh on Tuesday.

One pensioner said she was now “terrified” to leave her home after learning that Brown had been convicted for possessing indecent images of children at a recent hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

But she added that she and the determined residents of Watt's Close would “stop at nothing” to have the 61-year-old sex offender removed from their street.

A second homeowner, who did not wish to be identified, claimed that the man was the second child sex offender to have been moved into the same flat in the past year.

She said: “For the sake of our grandchildren, other children visiting us and all the other children in proximity of Watt's Close, this devil should not be living here.

“This is the second paedo within the last 12 months that East Lothian Council have housed there.

“And this is the second time we have all had to mobilise and try and get one of these paedophiles out of our community.

“It’s sickening what the council are doing to us.”

The pensioner added that she had contacted her local MSP Colin Beattie in a bid to raise support, as well as notifying the council of the residents' plans to protest.

Another elderly homeowner, who did not wish to be named, said: “I’m not the only one in the street, but I’m terrified to leave my home now just in case I bump into him.

“I also have grandchildren who visit me regularly but I’ve had to tell them they can’t come to see me at the moment – it really is heartbreaking.

“This is a very quiet street and all the residents are a really close-knit community.

“It just doesn’t seem fair or suitable to have him here as there are quite a few elderly people and families with children.

“We may be few but we are determined and will stop at nothing to have him moved somewhere more suitable.”

Graham Brown pleaded guilty to possessing 14 child abuse videos over a 10-month period when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on August 19.

READ MORE: Musselburgh man placed on sex offenders' register after being caught with videos of children

The court was told that police raided his home last year where they found 11 movies rated at Category A – the most serious end of the scale – and three Category B films stored on a laptop.

The court heard that the collection depicted young children being raped by adults.

Graham Brown outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court

Sheriff Chris Dickson placed Brown on the sex offenders' register and deferred sentence for reports to be prepared to next month.

An East Lothian Council spokesperson said: “Public safety is of paramount importance and the council works closely with our partner agencies to ensure that Scottish Government guidance is followed when allocating tenancies and in relation to the safe management of neighbourhoods.

“Under data protection rules, we cannot comment on specific cases.”