Man jailed for abusing four girls in North Lanarkshire
A man who abused four girls at various locations in North Lanarkshire has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Alan Forbes was convicted of six charges of lewd and indecent behaviour towards underage girls and of indecently assaulting one of the girls.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how the 59-year-old committed the offences between 1990 and 1999.
Judge Lord Kinclaven ordered that Forbes should be placed on the sex offenders' register.
The judge also referred the case for him to be included on a list of those unsuitable to work with children.
During his trial, the court heard how Forbes abused his first victim when she was nine in a car in the Airdrie area.
He abused a second youngster at a house in the Lanarkshire town and at a lay-by on the A73 near Newmains.
A third girl was molested by Forbes between 1994 and 1996 in a vehicle at roads in the Airdrie area and at a house.
A fourth girl, aged 15, was abused at a garage in Airdrie and on an occasion between February 1998 and 1999.
Jailing Forbes, Lord Kinclaven told him: "The court requires to mark the seriousness of your offending and, as was pointed out, there is in reality no alternative to a custodial sentence."