A paedophile pocketed £50,000 in farming subsidies – despite being jailed for sexually abusing three children.
Vile Douglas Brown received the payout after a sheriff imposed the highest possible sentence for his “persistent and prolonged” crimes.
Brown was jailed last November but received the subsidy cash the following month for land he farms near Newton Stewart in Wigtownshire.
The payout sparked fury from MSPs, who demanded the Scottish Government change laws to prevent payments being issued to violent or sexual offenders in jail.
Labour MSP Colin Smyth said: “This harrowing case exposes a worrying loophole.
“It is absurd that farmers are often penalised for a minor breach of the rules but not someone guilty of serious and violent crimes.”
Smyth slammed the current system, adding: “The SNP government now have full control of the rules over agricultural payments and can bring forward proposals for changes at any time.
“They need to urgently look at this issue and consider how we can halt and recover payments under extreme circumstances like this.”
Eight months ago, Brown, of Palgowan Farm in Newton Stewart, was caged for five years over a catalogue of sexual abuse offences.
He was charged with indecent practices towards a girl who was seven when the abuse started.
A court heard how he took off her clothes, touched her intimately and made her commit a sex act on him.
Brown abused a second girl, also aged seven, at the start of the offences, had sex with a woman in her presence and caused the girl to look at pornographic material.
A third girl, aged five at the start of the abuse, was a victim between 2003 and 2010. Brown got into bed and sexually abused her.
The farmer was also accused of striking the same girl with his hand, seizing her by the throat, pinning her against a wall and uttering threats of violence towards her.
The jury unanimously found him guilty of three charges and guilty by a majority verdict on another charge.
However, despite being jailed for his horrific crimes, the sex offender has benefited from farming payments as a sole trader.
Under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), applications can be made annually in May, with the cash handed out from December. Brown was caged last November.
The payment scheme replaces a previous EU-funded initiative scrapped after Brexit.
According to the Scottish Government figures, Brown’s business received payments of £49,772 in 2021.
The BPS acts as a safety net for farmers and crofters to supplement their main business income.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Applications for the Basic Payment Scheme are made annually in May. Payments are made to individual businesses between the following December and June, as long as they meet the requirements of the scheme.
“We are considering whether future changes to legislation could introduce provisions to withhold payments to those who may not be fit and proper persons.”
At the time of Brown’s sentencing at Dumfries Sheriff Court, Sheriff Scott Pattison told him: “The jury found you
guilty of sexually abusing three children and physically assaulting one of them.
“They were aged between five and 11 years old at the time and that abuse was persistent and prolonged.
“The abuse lasted for years. You were to blame and you were responsible.
“But for the bravery of the three girls you could have avoided justice for serious crimes.”
He added: “I am satisfied only a custodial sentence is appropriate to punish and deter you for the future.
“The sheer persistence leads me to sentence you to the limit of my powers and that is five years imprisonment from today.”
One of the victims welcomed the sentence.
She said: “He has never apologised and, in fact, seemed to think what he did had been blown out of proportion and wasn’t that bad.
“He thought he was above the law because he’s got plenty of money.
“Since the day he started abusing me, my life hasn’t progressed in any way.
“I haven’t been able to connect to anybody and I’m scared of absolutely everything – including even going outside and especially speaking to older men.
“It was only when one of the other victims reported the abuse that I decided to speak out.”
“I’m glad I did, even though I had to force myself to.”
The Daily Record revealed in 2003 that Brown, who had been banned for driving after clocking 120mph, used a
helicopter to go shopping in a Safeway supermarket.
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