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Horror as girl bangs at window begging for help in UK home hosting 'child rape nights'
Reach Daily Express | May 21, 2026 2:39 AM CST

A girl begged for help as she banged on a window at a home hosting "child rape nights", a devastating report has found. The damning publication into the so-called "Beastie House" has found children at the centre of one of Scotland's most high-profile abuse rings were repeatedly failed by authorities despite years of warnings and cries for help.

The report comes after seven people were convicted of being part of a child abuse ring, which a judge described as plunging into "the depths of human depravity". The two women and five men were all convicted of gang raping a child and abusing other children in a Glasgow drug den where heroin and crack cocaine were used. They were given sentences of between eight and 20 years in jail before they can apply for parole.

Iain Owens, 46; Elaine Lannery, 40; Lesley Williams, 43; Paul Brannan, 42; Scott Forbes, 51; Barry Watson, 48; and John Clark, 48, were convicted in November 2023 after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow. They were sentenced at the same court in January 2025.

Four of the group - Owens, Lannery, Brannan and Williams - were found guilty of attempting to murder a child by pushing them into a microwave and trapping them in other places.

A review, released on Wednesday (May 20), found repeated missed opportunities to thoroughly investigate abuse and neglect of several children between 2012 and 2019.

In one incident reported in the review, a child tried to stop a school nurse from leaving them, and on another occasion, a girl banged on a window, begging a health visitor not to leave.

Despite her desparate call for help, the incident was explained away as the vulnerable child's "challenging" and "streetwise" behaviour, "rather than a serious indicator of distress".

The same child's behaviour would later be described as "nasty" by professionals who said they "interfere in matters that don't concern" them.

Colin Anderson, the independent chairman of Glasgow's Child Protection Committee, said he could not guarantee such a case would never happen again.

The review found it was "difficult to comprehend" that abuse was not detected earlier despite more than a decade of involvement from social work, health, education and other agencies.

Mr Anderson said a culture change was necessary to ensure children's voices are prioritised over adults' - a key recommendation from the 70-page report.

The review noted a "pungent smell" coming from some of the children at times, including a smell of urine. Despite repeated warning signs, the children were not taken away from the perpetrators until 2019.

Several of the children involved in the abuse ring had severe dental problems, including "black and rotten teeth".

At various points in the children's lives, professionals failed to formally identify neglect despite what the review described as "an abundance of evidence", with the word only appearing in records from 2017.

The Glasgow Child Protection chairman described Beastie House as "the most shocking case" he had come across in his 50 years in social services.

Asked if the lessons learned from this review would mean a case like the so-called Beastie House could never happen again, he said: "I couldn't say hand on heart a case like this would never happen again."

He told reporters he was open to giving the children an apology, adding: "The key aspect of the report is that children's rights must take priority over adults' rights to make decisions on their behalf.

"It is about focusing on children. We must listen to children."


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