Girl ‘raped while satanic child abuse ring that held seances and used ouija boards clapped and cheered’

One girl was chased by people wearing devil masks, hung by her clothing from a nail on the wall and shut in a microwave and fridge, court heard

The case called at the High Court in Glasgow (PA)

Children were forced to take part in witchcraft and seances, and were sexually assaulted while members of a satanic child abuse ring watched, a court has heard.

Eleven people are standing trial at Glasgow High Court, accused of a string of crimes, with a number facing rape and sexual assault charges, while five are accused of attempted murder.

Iain Owens, 45, Elaine Lannery, 39, Lesley Williams, 41, Paul Brannan, 41, Marianne Gallagher, 38, Scott Forbes, 50, Barry Watson, 47, Mark Carr, 49, Richard Gachagan, 45, Leona Laing, 50, and John Clark, 46, deny all the charges, involving four children.

All eleven are accused of forcing children to participate in seances and use an ouija board or similar object to “call on spirits and demons”, at various addresses in the Glasgow area.

The children were also allegedly made to participate in classes involving witchcraft, spells and wands which made them believe that they had “metamorphosed into animals”, court documents show.

One girl was chased by people wearing devil masks, hung by her clothing from a nail on the wall, shut in a microwave, an oven, a fridge, a freezer and cupboards, the court heard.

Owens, Lannery, Williams, Brannan, Clark are also charged with attempting to murder the girl, who was also allegedly made to act like a dog and eat dog food.

The group, which is also charged with stabbing and abusing dogs, also made one child dress in lingerie and “dance in a sexualised manner” on various occasions between 1 October 2018 and 19 June 2019, the indictment claims, before she was raped by male members of the group.

The women are accused of watching, with the indictment adding that they did “clap, cheer and verbally encourage” the abuse, with some filming the attack.

Children were also allegedly forced to repeatedly sexually abuse each other with household items.

On two occasions between 1 January 2019 and 23 March 2019, the group is alleged to have forced a boy to masturbate in front of them and then forced him to have sex with some of the women, while the men watched.

In one horrifying charge, a young child was restrained in her cot as men raped her, while others cheered and took video recordings, the court heard.

All 11 are accused of possessing drugs including diamorphine and cocaine, while Owens, Lannery, Williams, Brannan and Watson also face charges for supplying the Class A drugs.

Three others including Maureen Goudie, Steven McHendrie and Robert Brown are also mentioned as being involved in a number of the charges, but court papers said they are now deceased.

Jurors were told on Tuesday that the case, which has a 10-page indictment featuring 32 charges over a 10-year period from 2010 to 2020, could last more than six weeks.

Giving evidence, Detective Constable Nicola Hay said the investigation into the alleged crimes, dubbed Operation Woodwhite, was launched in March 2020.

The trial continues.