“Calculating and predatory” bus driver jailed for sex attacks on boys

Gavin Bowie (64) from Cumbernauld was jailed for 13 years at the High Court in Livingston for a series of 15 offences against 11 boys aged 12 to 16 between 1977 and 2000. The nature of the offences, which were committed in Glasgow and Cumbernauld, included indecent assaults, lewd and libidinous practices and male rapes.

The court had head how Bowie allowed his victims to travel for free on the bus he was driving and then persuaded them to visit his home with promises of drugs, drink and sweets.

It was a chance meeting far from the scene of his crimes that saw Bowie apprehended. He had moved to Halifax and was working as a bus driver there when one of his victims, who had by coincidence also moved to the English town, boarded his bus and recognised him. He reported him to the police in 2013 when it emerged another victim had also come forward over a year earlier.

Sentencing, judge Lady Wolffe told Bowie: “The boys you preyed upon were all impressionable, young boys in their early teens. The evidence at the trial disclosed that you were a calculating and predatory individual, preying on the young and vulnerable for your own sexual gratification. From the evidence at trial, and from the several victim impact statements provided, it is clear that your prolonged sexual abuse has affected your victims: they describe having trust issues, difficulty forming relationships, anger, and having on occasion turned to alcohol or drugs to try to cope with the impact of the abuse they suffered at your hands. Their lives continue to be blighted by your actions.”