[Photo above: Smyllum Park orphanage closed in 1981]
A nun and a care worker convicted of abusing vulnerable children at an orphanage in Lanark have had their sentences reduced.
Sister Eileen Igoe, 79, and carer Margaret Hughes, 77, mistreated young people at Smyllum Park between 1969 and its closure in 1981.
The pair were initially jailed for three years each following a six-week trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court in January.
But the Court of Appeal said “insufficient” weight had been given to their age and shortened their sentence to seven months from the date of their initial conviction.
In a written judgement on Friday, Lord Matthews said he would have imposed a sentence of probation with unpaid work.
However he acknowledged the two women had already been in custody since 18 January this year and that a seven-month term – almost four months of which have already been served –…
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