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.

North east pensioner jailed for sexually abusing girls as young as three

John Tollerfield was jailed for 27 months
John Tollerfield was jailed for 27 months

A north-east pensioner who admitted a campaign of sexual abuse against girls as young as three has been jailed.

John Tollerfield preyed on the five youngsters over more than five decades at addresses across Aberdeenshire.

The 76-year-old was given a 27-month prison sentence when he appeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court yesterday.

He will serve a further 33 months on licence and his name has been added to the sex offenders register indefinitely.

At an earlier hearing, fiscal depute David Bernard said the nine charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour Tollerfield admitted amounted to “systematic sexual abuse”.

The court heard the pensioner had touched the girls for his own sexual gratification and that two of his victims may have been abused as often as once a month over a five-year period.

On several occasions Tollerfield asked the girls to sit on his knee for “cuddles” before groping them.

The court heard that in 2012 one victim was worried about a lump in her breast.

Tollerfield told her he could check the lump before massaging her.

When the girl said she felt uncomfortable, Tollerfield replied: “Don’t tell your mum. I’ll get into trouble – this will be our little secret.”

Sheriff Andrew Miller told him: “The court must take a serious view of the sexual offences to which you have pleaded guilty.

“Although any act of sexual abuse against a child is a very serious offence, you abused five children. I’ve had regard to the victims’ statements and it is clear, and not at all surprising, your harmful impact on their lives has been self-evident.”

Mr Miller said each of Tollerfield’s actions amounted to repeated and “powerful manipulation of a child”.

Tollerfield’s address was given in court papers as Burnside of Rora, Longside.