Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Petition bid to keep Aberdeen child killer behind bars

Steven Leisk being escorted from Aberdeen High Court.
Steven Leisk being escorted from Aberdeen High Court.

More than 1,000 people have backed a family’s bid to keep a convicted child killer behind bars.

Scott Simpson, 9, was abducted from a park near to his city home by Steven Leisk, then 34, in July 1997.

The youngster’s body was found five days later, within the grounds of Aberdeen University. He had been strangled.

Now, his loved ones have been told Leisk has launched a parole bid – and they have responded with a campaign to keep the “monster” locked up.

With help from her five siblings, Scott’s sister Sarah Watt created two online petitions and a paper version which has so far drawn more than 1,000 signatures.

The mum-of-three told the Evening Express she is hoping the petition will show the parole board the strength of feeling against Leisk’s release.

Ms Watt, 39, said: “He murdered my brother in cold blood. Leisk is a manipulative, deceitful monster who needs to stay behind bars.”

Scott was playing in a park near his Powis Circle home when he was lured to his death by Leisk.

His disappearance sparked a huge manhunt and eventually his body was found hidden in bushes in a lane in Old Aberdeen.

Leisk, who had a string of convictions for sex offences dating back to 1984 and had been jailed three times, had been living in a flat overlooking the park where Scott was last seen alive.

He was jailed for 25 years in November 1997. That was cut to 20 years in 2002 due to human rights laws.

Ms Watt added: “He has not been around children for 20 years, so how can we know he will be safe around them?”

A parole board spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual cases.”

If parole were to be approved, Leask would initially be allowed to leave jail on the first occasion under a day release scheme for training, employment or education.