Ex-football scout jailed for sexually abusing Scots schoolboys dies in prison

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An ex-football coach who was jailed for abusing four schoolboys has died in jail.Kenneth Divers, 80, was jailed in June, 2023, after being extradited from Vietnam by police the year before to face the historical abuse allegations.

As well as coaching school football, Divers had worked as a football scout for Celtic.The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) confirmed Divers died at HMP Low Moss on February, 2.

He was found guilty at Paisley Sheriff Court of targeting four boys, as young as 11-years-old, at locations including Hampden Park and two schools in Paisley, between 1968 and 1992.The jury heard how Divers told one of his victims that they would get to meet professional footballer Stewart Houston - who played for Manchester United and Chelsea - but this never happened.

The man, who was abused between the ages of 12 and 14, said he ended up making multiple attempts on his life.This started after an “aroused” Divers had pressed up against him at Hampden Park during a Scotland versus England match in the late 1960s.The victim explained how Divers wanted to take him and another four boys on a trip to Spain but he did not want to go and after leaving the game he stepped in front of a moving car and suffered a broken femur.The beast targeted one boy at locations in Dunoon and Hampden Park on various occasions between August 1968 and June 1970.A second victim was preyed upon in Paisley and Largs between August 1971 and May 1975, and a third was abused at St Aelred’s Secondary in Paisley between 1984 and 1988.And the fourth was targeted between 1991 and 1992 at St Andrews Academy in the town.Divers told the court that the victims were telling lies but the jury ultimately did not believe him and he was sentenced to five years in