A former dispensing optician jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing two girls has had his conviction overturned.
Boo Seng Khoo had his conviction quashed by a panel of three judges at the High Court of Justiciary after they ruled there had been a miscarriage of justice, clearing Seng Khoo of any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors had alleged that Seng Khoo, who was also a foster parent, had preyed on the young girls in his home over a period spanning eight years from 2003 to 2011.
A report in the Greenock Telegraph claimed the sheriff that presided over the trial said he had ‘not expected such an outcome’ in the case. Sheriff Alan McKenzie said that he had been ‘anticipating a verdict of acquittal’ from the evidence placed before the jury. He added that the testimony of one girl, saying she had been abused almost daily for seven years in a living room with other adults and children coming and going, ‘might have seemed extraordinary.’
Seng Khoo’s appeal focused on failings by his defence lawyers to properly prepare the case and said certain records relevant to factual matters were not obtained and placed before the jury.
The appeal also pointed out that there was a ‘strict protocol’ within his home that he would not be left alone with one of his accusers after ‘concerns had been identified that false allegations might be made.’
An official report regarding the appeal said: ‘The protocol was observed in relation to the two complainers because they had displayed sexualised behaviour and in addition were known to be dishonest. Evidence of these concerns, including that one of the complainers was previously sexually abused by a family member, is likely to be contained in the records, which the previous representatives failed to obtain.’