Inverkeithing dad Barry Young opens up about abusive uncle

Barry ‘Baz’ Young, now 48, was just eight years old when ex-Navy sailor, Mark Thompson, began his sickening campaign of sexual abuse and manipulation towards him.

Thompson, who was married to Barry’s aunt at the time, groomed and sexually abused Barry and two other boys over the course of 15 years. He was convicted of his crimes and sentenced to eight years in prison at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday, January 19.

READ MORE: Sailor jailed for grooming and abusing three boys in Inverkeithing

Now, Barry has waived his anonymity and is sharing his story in the hope that he can encourage others to come forward.

He told the Press: “It very much started as, when I was staying at his house, he would be checking whether or not I was clean after having a bath or if I had maybe come in from playing a game of football and I was a bit sweaty, he was always really keen to help me get changed.

Barry Young has waived his anonymity. (Image: Dave Wardle)

“It originally started like that and over the course of five years it led to, quite gradually, getting more and more physical.”

Made to feel like what he was being subjected to was normal, Thompson threatened and bribed Barry into silence while the now 62-year-old carried out his attacks.

“He was quite manipulative in how he did things in the early days. When my parents would come to pick me up, he would tell a story about how I kicked a ball and broke a neighbour's greenhouse and if I didn't do as he wanted, he would invent these stories.

“Because he was an adult, telling stories, they would believe him; so it was kind of like a bribery, he held that over me to get me to do the things that he wanted me to do.

“After a while, he got into my head, he got me convinced that it was a normal when it got a lot more physical.”

Because of Thompson’s role in the Navy, Barry was offered some “respite” from the sickening abuse he endured but says that once his uncle was back on shore “it picked up where it left off”.

He continued: “It went on like that, really until I started puberty, and then it was almost like once I started puberty he wasn’t interested in me any longer. Throughout all of [the abuse], even when I started trying to suggest that there was something not right about what he was doing, he blackmailed me saying ‘I have to do it to somebody and if I don’t do it to you, I’ll do it to somebody else that comes around the house’.

“It was the absolute worst because it became this secret that I had to keep. When I started working out that something wasn’t right, it was a case of, well, nobody’s going to believe me because they always believed him when he was making up stories like I had broken a window.

“It put a strain on me, it made me alone and turned me into quite a loner because I felt like I couldn’t talk to anybody. It knocked my confidence quite badly.“

Baz with his partner, Dee and his daughter, Wren (Image: Dave Wardle)

For almost 40 years, Barry kept what he went through a secret. He was plagued by nightmares and suffered through the lasting effects of his abuse.

Once a calm person, Barry became short tempered and would throw himself into his work. He struggled and, unfortunately, this led to the breakdown of two of his marriages.

Everything changed when Thompson was convicted in 2022 and given a community order for taking or making indecent images of children. His conviction was published in the paper and the secret Barry had kept for almost four decades was then brought to light.

When asked what got him through this incredibly difficult discovery, Barry said his partner, Danielle.

“It was probably Danielle,” he said. “Dee as I call her, she was there the day that it came out in the newspaper.

“I got a phone call from my mum and she actually asked me outright. Dee was with me, across the room and she described my face just going pale white.

“The family was a great support but she was the person that got me through it, she got me to start opening up and talk about it

“At times when I wanted to just lie in my bed and pretend it wasn’t happening, she was the person that dragged me out and kicked me into gear.”

Together the couple have faced so much.

Barry with his daughter, Wren (Image: Dave Wardle)

In 2021, before Thompson’s crimes came to light, Barry developed Sepsis and was in a coma for two months. The pair also went through fertility struggles and when their little daughter Wren was born, there were complications.

READ MORE: Wee miracle Wren gets ready to celebrate her first Christmas

But now, Barry has made it through the other side and has a new lease on life.

He said: “Its a good feeling now, he was actually convicted in November last year but it took until the other week for him to get the sentence and I feel good.

“There’s been a spring to my step because it was all worth it. I used to feel a lot of despair, like, what was the point, but yeah, I feel like this is a new beginning for me to get a bit more enjoyment out of life.”

His focus is setting an example for his daughter, showing her the importance of coming forward and holding people to justice.

Barry and his partner, Dee (Image: Dave Wardle)

He also aims to encourage other people who have gone through similar experiences to come forward too.

Barry added: “I’m really glad I'm coming forward because when Wren’s older and I tell her about it, and God forbid anything happens to her, but at least she knows that her dad was strong enough to come forward and something was done.

“I don’t want her ever making the mistakes that I made. As well as not coming forward for nearly 40 years, along the way I caused upset to other people as well because I wasn’t always the best person.

“I suppose if one person maybe reads this and comes forward, then it’s totally been worth it.”