A 57-YEAR-OLD Dunfermline man who sexually abused three young girls has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Two of the victims were children at the time and the other was 16.

Gary Hempseed, of Skye Road, was found guilty of a catalogue of sex offences after a trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court last month.

He was remanded in custody and has now been jailed at a sentencing hearing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court with Hempseed appearing via video-link from prison.

Former lorry driver Hempseed targeted one of the girls as she pretended to sleep in his home.

Hempseed was convicted of seven of the nine charges he faced after a four-day trial.

One girl, 16 at the time, was sexually assaulted by Hempseed at his home in November 2019.

He had also taken an intimate photograph of her using his mobile phone.

Between August 2013 and August 2016 at a property in Dunfermline, he engaged in sexual activity with another girl, who had not yet turned 16.

He also did so between when she turned 16 until shortly after she turned 19.

He sexually assaulted a different child between the ages of 13 and 16 on occasions between November 2015 and November 2017 in different properties in Dunfermline.

Hempseed was placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

A sexual offences prevention order was also issued, banning him from ever contacting any of the victims.