A serial sex offender who preyed on under-age girls over a 20-year period has died in jail.
Pensioner William Burns, 73, died at Glenochil Prison in Clackmannanshire six years after he was caged at the High Court in Edinburgh.
He was handed a 12-year sentence after admitting a string of sex attacks on “vulnerable” young girls.
In 2010, Lord Turnbull told him: “As an adult male, you conducted a campaign of sexual exploitation of young girls over a period of 20 years when you were aged between mid-forties to mid-sixties.
“You predominantly targeted girls in their early teens and one of your victims was only 11 years old when your abuse of her commenced.
“Your conduct was callous and calculated and you went to considerable lengths to ingratiate yourself into the company of young girls, mostly targeting those who were vulnerable in one fashion or another.”
The court heard Burns would hang around a play park near his home in of Muir of Ord in Ross-Shire and ply the girls with cigarettes, alcohol and cannabis before abusing them.
Burns’ nephew, Donald Burns, 43, of Bellfield, Invergordon, was also jailed the same year for 16 months after admitting two sexual offences, including having unlawful intercourse with an under-age girl, at his uncle’s home in Muir of Ord.
The Scottish Prison Service said Police Scotland had been notified of Burns’ death at Glenochil and a report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.
Next of kin have been informed and a Fatal Accident Inquiry may take place at a future date.