July 2022

Rich paedo farmer pocketed £50,000 in farming subsidies – despite being jailed for sexually abusing three children

Vile Douglas Brown received the payout after a sheriff imposed the highest possible sentence for his “persistent and prolonged” crimes.

Brown was jailed last November but received the subsidy cash the following month for land he farms near Newton Stewart in Wigtownshire

The payout sparked fury from MSPs, who demanded the Scottish Government change laws to prevent payments being issued to violent or sexual offenders in jail.

Eight months ago, Brown, of Palgowan Farm in Newton Stewart, was caged for five years over a catalogue of sexual abuse offences.

He was charged with indecent practices towards a girl who was seven when the abuse started.

A court heard how he took off her clothes, touched her intimately and made her commit a sex act on him.

Brown abused a second girl, also aged seven, at the start of the offences, had sex with a woman in her presence and caused the girl to look at pornographic material.

A third girl, aged five at the start of the abuse, was a victim between 2003 and 2010. Brown got into bed and sexually abused her.

The farmer was also accused of striking the same girl with his hand, seizing her by the throat, pinning her against a wall and uttering threats of violence towards her.

The jury unanimously found him guilty of three charges and guilty by a majority verdict on another charge.

However, despite being jailed for his horrific crimes, the sex offender has benefited from farming payments as a sole trader.

Under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), applications can be made annually in May, with the cash handed out from December. Brown was caged last November.

The payment scheme replaces a previous EU-funded initiative scrapped after Brexit.

According to the Scottish Government figures, Brown’s business received payments of £49,772 in 2021.

The BPS acts as a safety net for farmers and crofters to supplement their main business income.