Scots writer who ran kids poetry competitions convicted of child sex abuse
- Rory Cassidy
- May 17
- 2 min read
A writer who ran an organisation which hosted children's poetry competitions has been convicted of child sex offences.
Mark Sherland is facing jail for abusing three victims while working at a youth centre in Renfrew, near Glasgow.
He lured the boys back to his home in Paisley, Renfrewshire, and abused them in his bedroom.
In 2024 it emerged that Sherland had changed his name from Douglas Stuart Hammond after being convicted of earlier child sex abuse.
He then lied his way to becoming President of the Robert Burns World Federation, where he had direct access to school children.
On Friday, at Paisley Sheriff Court, Sherland, of Erskine, Renfrewshire, was convicted of abusing three more young boys in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
He had denied his guilt, forcing his victims to give evidence against him, and claiming that he had actually touched them inadvertently while "dummy fighting" with them.
One victim, now 50, told the court that he has suffered from a recurring nightmare for the last 38 years following the abuse.
Sherland was known to the boys as Douglas Stuart Hammond at the time of the offences, but the court heard he had since changed his name.
He abused the youngsters between 1988 and 1990 at his flat in Stock Street, Paisley.
The 50-year-old victim said: "I have really bad nightmares, crying in my sleep, waking up screaming.
"I thought the guy was alright. He was a kind, fun guy.
"It's a very heavy thing for me to carry. I hid it from my mum when she was alive."
On Friday afternoon, the jury of four men and 11 women found Sherland unanimously guilty of the three charges he faced.
The 69-year-old indecently assaulted one boy between 1988 and 1989, when the youngster was aged 13 and 14.
The second boy was targeted in 1988 and 1989, when he was 14 and 15.
The third boy was abused in 1990, when he was 16.
He was convicted in his absence following a trial, with his lawyer saying he had been admitted to hospital on Thursday night.
Sheriff Gillian Craig said his failure to appear at court "was a matter of some concern".
She called for background reports to be prepared ahead of sentencing, adjourned the case for that to be done and said Sherland is facing jail.
She explained: "As far as I'm concerned at this point, this is only going one way, in case anyone is in any doubt."
Sherland, who was named Mark on court papers, but his name is spelled Marc in documents lodged with Companies House over his role as President of the Robert Burns World Federation.
In 1991, Sherland was convicted of indecently assaulting two young boys, aged eight and 10, when he worked as an educational community worker at Strathclyde Regional Council.
Paisley Sheriff Court heard during his trial that as many as 200 children had visited his home, and he changed his name after he was convicted.
Comments