John O'Flaherty jailed for non-recent sexual assaults in Edinburgh

A man who committed a number of sexual assaults on women and girls in the 1980s and 1990s has been jailed.

At the High Court in Livingston on Tuesday, 27 February, 2024, John O’Flaherty (67) was sentenced to an Order of Lifelong Restriction with a minimum punishment part of five-years in prison for the offences, which took place in the North and South West of Edinburgh.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

The survivors were aged between 7 and 32 and after reporting the crimes to police in 2018, officers from Edinburgh’s Public Protection Unit spent more than two years gathering evidence against O’Flaherty.

He was initially arrested in June 2020, with further charges added over the following months.

Chief Inspector Jonny Wright said: “Our response to sexual crime is victim centred, with the safety and wellbeing of victims at the heart of what we do. I hope the conviction and sentencing of John O’Flaherty highlights that time is no barrier to investigating offences and we will respond to all reports we receive.

"I wish to thank the women he targeted for coming forward and reporting the attacks to police.

“Their continued support of our investigation and their testimony during the trial ultimately led to O’Flaherty’s conviction."