PROMINENT lawyer and Scottish football club boss Julian Danskin yesterday was convicted of sex offences.
The 48-year-old owner and chairman of third division East Fife Football Club was convicted of three sex offences against young BB members when he was their captain.
There was uproar in Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court when the jury forewoman delivered its majority verdicts at the end of the 12-day trial. A woman screamed, ''you're a beast Danskin'' and had to be escorted from the public benches by police, and one victim said ''yes, yes''.
As he was whisked away from court in a Jeep to face a three-week wait to find out if he will be jailed, an angry crowd jeered, and a woman screamed ''I know what you look like Danskin. It will be me who will be appearing in the dock next for murder.''
The jury of eight women and seven men convicted Danskin, of Braemar, Largo Road, Leven, of conducting himself in a shamelessly indecent manner towards a 25-year-old when he was aged between 14 and 18.
He was further convicted of using lewd, libidinous and indecent behaviour to a boy aged between 8 and 14. He was also found guilty of conducting himself in a shamelessly indecent manner towards the same victim when he was aged between 15 and 18. A fourth charge of lewd and libidinous behaviour towards a youngster aged between 10 and 14 was found not proven.
Danskin, the senior partner of Leven law firm Smith and Grant, committed the offences in Innerleven East Church hall, his offices and Silverburn House in Leven between 1985 and 1995 while he was Captain of the 1st Methil BB.
The lawyer, who did not give evidence and had no evidence led on his behalf, had denied all the charges. But the jury - who heard claims during the trial that Danskin was a control freak who displayed elements of humiliation, dominance and punishment towards wrong-doers and preyed on the vulnerable - believed his victims.
Informed that Danskin has no previous convictions, Sheriff Francis Keane told him that before deciding sentence he would call for social inquiry reports and a community service assessment.''
Sentence was deferred until December 1 and bail was continued. Later his lawyer Ron McKenzie confirmed: ''The question of an appeal is under consideration.''
Julian Struthers Danskin oozed respectability and, despite a reputation as being aggressive and arrogant, he appeared to be a pillar of the community.
Born the only son of a Polish immigrant and a Fife school teacher he attended Buckhaven High School and went on to gain a law degree, becoming senior partner in the Fife law firm of Smith and Grant, and also lecturing at Stirling University, and Edinburgh's Napier College.
For more than 20 years, the bachelor was captain of the 1st Methil Boys' Brigade and also took over his local East Fife Football Club. However his standing in the community was ripped to shreds in August last year when temporary High Court judge, John Wheatley, branded him ''unwholesome and unsatisfactory''.
His comments were made at the High Court in Glasgow at the end of a blackmail trial during which victim Danskin admitted he had been present at the filming of a gay porn video in his home in Leven and his offices in the town's High Street.
Danskin, who strongly denied participating in the video - stolen in a break-in at his office - admitted his voice could be heard on it, but refused to divulge why he was present on the grounds that one of the men filmed was his client and it would be a breach of confidentiality.
He admitted handing over #20,000 in the toilet of a Glasgow pub to buy back the video from Alan James, 39, and Alex Kergan, 37, who were jailed for six years and four years respectively when they were convicted of attempting to blackmail the lawyer out of #100,000 over the stolen sex tape.
The court case - which revealed the secret of Danskin's homosexuality - and the judge's comments - led to a chain of events, including a major police investigation, culminating in his conviction.
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