FACES OF PURE EVIL; Sick paedophile gang caged for 43 years over 'appalling' abuse.

Byline: STEPHEN WHITE

SIX members of an evil paedophile ring were yesterday jailed for more than 43 years.

John Milligan, Craig Boath and Ross Webber were convicted of conspiring to sexually abuse children. They were also found guilty of making, possessing and distributing indecent images of children along with Colin Slaven, John Murphy and Neil Campbell.

Civil servant Milligan, 40, of Glasgow, was jailed for 17 years. Insurance worker Boath, 24, from Dundee, got nine years and nine months and bank teller Webber, 27, from North Berwick got eight years and nine months.

Slaven, 24, from Edinburgh, and Campbell, 46, and Murphy, 44, both of Glasgow, were caged for a combined eight years, four months. Paedophile ringleader Neil Strachan, 41, and crony James Rennie will be sentenced next month. The vile ring was uncovered after an indecent image was found on Strachan's PC by a computer repairman.

Police discovered more than 125,000 sick images in their probe. Judge Lord Bannatyne told the high court in Edinburgh some showed "appalling" abuse.

Det Insp Stuart Hood said: "No jail sentence, however lengthy, can begin to compensate the victims in these photographs and videos."

CAPTION(S):

HUNT Det Insp Stuart Hood JOHN MILLIGAN Sentenced to 17 years behind bars CRAIG BOATH Sentenced to nine years and nine months ROSS WEBBER Sentenced to eight years and nine months COLIN SLAVEN Sentenced to three years for kid porn pics NEIL CAMPBELL Sentenced to three years and four months JOHN MURPHY Sentenced to two years in prison