A paedophile farmer jailed for abusing three girls has now received around £135,000 in agricultural subsidies.
Douglas Brown’s business continues to receive public money - fuelling calls for an urgent law change.
Brown, of the Palgowan Farm near Newton Stewart, was jailed for five years in November last year for sexual abuse offences.
He had been charged with indecent practices towards a girl who was just seven when the sexual abuse started.
A court heard how he took off her clothing, touched her intimately and made her commit a sex act on him.
A second girl was also seven years old at the start of Brown’s crimes, which included having sex with a woman in her presence.
A third girl, who was five at the start of the abuse, was a victim between 2003 and 2010.
The Record revealed this year that his business had received £49,000 in “Basic Payment Scheme” and “greening” subsidies weeks after his jailing.
We reported in August that the running total had reached £85,000.
A fresh freedom information request has confirmed the business has now benefited to the tune of £136,000.
The Scottish Government previously said it was considering whether payments could be withheld to those who are not “fit and proper” persons.
Tory MSP Russell Findlay, who asked for an update on the legislative plans last week, told the Record: “When I raised this shocking case with the SNP minister last week, we knew that £86,000 of taxpayers’ money had already been paid out.
“To now discover that the total amount has almost doubled, and presumably may rise further, is an affront to law-abiding Scots.
"Yet the minister sounds like a broken record, by repeating that they’re looking to close this loophole.
“Waiting until their Agriculture Bill, which won’t be delivered until 2026, is not good enough.”
Sentencing Brown at Dumfries Sheriff Court last year, Sheriff Scott Pattison said: “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.”
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.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said:
“Applications for BPS, Greening and LFASS are part of the Single Application Form (SAF) and made annually between March and May. Applications for SSBSS are made throughout the calendar year. 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.”
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