Pensioner guilty of abusing sisters in Lanarkshire

A pensioner has been convicted of sexually abusing two sisters in Lanarkshire more than 20 years ago.

Edward Rice, 72, from Seaton in Cumbria, carried out the offences at a house in Coatbridge between 1986 and 1997.

He had denied the charges but was found guilty by a jury at the High Court in Glasgow.

The abuse only came to light when one of the girls told her partner in 2006. Sentence was deferred until next month.

The court heard Rice told one of the girls to come into a bathroom while he was bathing and then sexually abused her.

He told her not to tell anyone and said if she did, he would make sure that everyone she loved was taken away from her.

When the woman, who is now 28, went to the police her half-sister, 35, also came forward and said that Rice had abused her.

Rice was originally been charged with raping the 35-year-old woman when she was 12, but he was acquitted of that charge.