Eight members of a paedophile ring have been found guilty of child pornography and abuse charges, including the sexual assault of a three-month-old baby. Skip related content

Members of paedophile ring found guilty

Two of the men - convicted sex offender Neil Strachan and gay rights campaigner James Rennie - were convicted of sex attacks on children.

Strachan, 41, and Rennie, 38, both from Edinburgh, were also found guilty of conspiring to abuse youngsters, as were three other members of the ring.

And all eight of the accused in the ten-week trial at the High Court in Edinburgh were convicted of a series of child porn offences.

The gang members were traced through their explicit internet chats about sexual fantasies involving children.

Nearly 125,000 indecent images were seized during Operation Algebra, which uncovered the group, believed to be Scotland's biggest paedophile network.

Ross Webber, 27, of North Berwick, Craig Boath, 24, from Dundee and John Milligan, 40, from Glasgow, were all found guilty of conspiring to participate in the sexual abuse of children along with Strachan and Rennie who was found guilty of molesting a young boy for more than four years, starting when the child was just three months old.

The five men, with Colin Slaven, 23, from Edinburgh and Neil Campbell, 46 and John Murphy, 44, from Glasgow, were also convicted of a catalogue of child porn offences.

A child rapist caused outrage after issuing a compensation claim for thousands of pounds because his prison cell does not have a toilet.

Serial paedophile David Williams wants £5,000, claiming his human rights were breached because he has to endure "a substandard lifestyle" at Exeter Prison in Devon.

The 43-year-old was jailed in June 2007 for the rape of a young teenage boy. He was given an indeterminate sentence for public protection.

Williams, who has lived in Devon and Durham, has convictions for offences against children dating back to the 1980s. He was arrested for the rape shortly after serving six years for seven counts of gross misconduct against four boys aged between four and 11. During that sentence he refused to take part in any sex offender rehabilitation courses.

In a writ to the High Court, Williams said the lifestyle at the prison is endangering his "physical and emotional health".

The claims have sparked outrage from victim support groups. Ed Usher, of Victims' Voice, said: "The human rights of the victim are never taken into account. These offenders have been put behind bars because they chose to commit the crime. Provided they are held in decent surroundings, it's ridiculous they should make these sorts of claims for damages."

In the claim, Williams is seeking damages under Article 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which describes the inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of a person.

He claims his rights are being breached because he was "denied" proper sanitation facilities, washing facilities and the supply of hot water and drinking water in his cell on the prison's D-wing. The writ claims Williams has been subjected to "degrading and humiliating treatment" by the prison service.

He is seeking £5,000, which he said is £2,500 per year for the period between November 8 2006, and April 29 2008.

The Ministry of Justice denied that Exeter Prison's sanitary provisions breached any human rights. A spokesman said: "Our position is that no prison's sanitary arrangements breach human rights legislation."