Clacks man abused teenage girls, a jury finds

A jury found James Foxton, 47, guilty of four charges following a week-long trial between November 11-15.

During the five days, the court heard evidence from two women in their twenties, who were abused by Foxton when they were younger.

The first complainer broke down as she talked about the ordeal, which lasted from December 1, 2009 until June 9, 2010 - when she was 14 years old.

While they were at an address in Clacks and during late night car journeys throughout that period, Foxton behaved indecently towards her between 10-12 times.

The woman described one incident where he grabbed her breasts over her clothing, then "laughed" as she reacted with shock.

She claimed he was acting like he was "just having a laugh," and then said he "smirked" on another occasion when he groped her under her clothes.

She told the court that Foxton's behaviour escalated to a point where he once "grabbed" her hand and forced her to perform a sex act on him.

When asked by prosecutor Cheryl Clarke if she had ever told him to stop, she said: "There was one incident, but because I told him 'no' he hit me. So ever since then I was afraid to say no."

After keeping Foxton's behaviour secret, she eventually broke her silence and reported him to police on June 9, 2010.

But he managed to escape justice and avoid facing charges because police were unable to corroborate her claims.

In the years after that, the woman said she was hassled by some members of Foxton's family, who claimed she was making it all up.

However, he was eventually snared after he abused another girl during a four-year period between February 18, 2013 and March 31, 2017.

Those incidents started when the youngster was 16, and included occasions where he repeatedly sexually assaulted her, forced her to participate in sexual activity without her consent, and sent her a sexual image.

When she was giving evidence, the complainer was asked by Ms Clarke how frequently she was abused.

The woman replied: "Sometimes it would be twice a week; sometimes it would be months and months apart."

She then described instances where Foxton would touch her breasts, and other occasions where he would force her to touch his genitals while at various locations in Clacks, and during late night car journeys.

But she said that on one occasion in March 2017, she reached her breaking point and told him to stop when he tried to make her touch his penis.

He reacted by telling her: "Sorry, it's just a laugh," but never tried to abuse her again after that.

It wasn't until the following year that she revealed what he'd done to her to a family member – resulting in a report to police.

It was only then that Foxton was charged, but he always maintained he was innocent of any wrongdoing.

Both complainers were cross-examined by his solicitor Larissa Milligan during the trial.

She put it to them that they had made the allegations against her client up – but this was denied by both.

Foxton himself even suggested that both women were "infatuated" with him during recorded police interviews which were played to jurors.

However, that was laughed off by a relative of one of the complainers, who said: "No chance. Have you seen him?"

In her closing speech to the jury, Ms Clarke sought to highlight that both complainers were "credible and reliable" – and urged them to believe their claims.

In contrast, Ms Milligan asked them to question why two women who claimed to have been sexually abused would allow Foxton's behaviour to go on for so long before reporting it.

After around an hour of deliberations on Friday, November 15, jurors found Foxton guilty of all four charges.

Upon receiving the verdict, Sheriff Wylie Robertson said background reports would be required, and warned Foxton of how seriously he viewed the offences.

He said: "A custodial sentence is inevitable, and you will be remanded in custody pending the preparation of the report."

Foxton, of Beechwood, showed no emotion as he was taken into custody. He will be sentenced on December 12.