Nicola Murray, a prominent domestic abuse campaigner from Stanley in Perthshire, has been sentenced to three years in prison for a series of deliberate and targeted sexual and physical abuses against four children spanning from December 2002 to August 2022. The 46-year-old, who founded the support group Brodie’s Trust to advocate for women who lost babies due to domestic violence, was convicted by a jury at Edinburgh Sheriff Court following a trial last month. Despite denying the charges, Murray was found guilty on all 10 counts, including three assaults, two sexual assaults, two indecent communications, one indecent assault, and two offences of threatening or abusive behaviour.
The abuses detailed in court were described as systematic and horrific. Prosecutor Cheryl Porter told the jury that Murray had 'systematically physically, emotionally and sexually abused these children.' Specific incidents included Murray forcing her tongue into the mouths of two children, making another view an explicit image she had taken of a man she was dating, and indecently assaulting a further child after stripping them naked. Murray also engaged in repeated sexual conversations with the victims and spoke openly about her sex life. Physical violence encompassed punching, kicking, slapping the children to the head and body over several years, pushing one youngster down a flight of stairs on multiple occasions, dragging a young child out of a top bunk bed onto the floor, and smothering another's face with a pillow to restrict breathing. One victim was blamed by Murray for causing her to suffer a miscarriage, while another reported being 'treated like a dog' and left terrified to the point of wetting themselves. Following one assault, a victim was left 'naked, injured and distressed' on the floor.
Sentencing occurred on Thursday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, where Sheriff Gillian Sharp remarked: 'You have been convicted by a jury of your peers of all 10 charges. You were a mature adult when the offences were committed and the abuse was deliberate and targeted. It is clear you have minimised your behaviour and I find no evidence of remorse, regret, insight or victim empathy.' In addition to the three-year custodial sentence, Murray was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and issued non-harassment orders prohibiting contact with the victims for the same period. The case came to light after one victim reported Murray to the police in 2022.
Murray's double life as an abuser contrasted sharply with her public persona. She established Brodie’s Trust after her own miscarriage and successfully petitioned for legal changes to impose longer sentences on domestic abusers who cause victims to lose babies. In May of the previous year, her petition was debated in the Scottish Parliament, chaired by Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw, with MSPs unanimously noting it for further consideration. However, her defence solicitor advocate Kris Gilmartin highlighted that Murray had been a victim of domestic abuse herself, diagnosed with PTSD two years ago, and had played a key role in domestic abuse law reforms. Gilmartin noted Murray continued to deny the offences and faced threats of violence post-conviction, arguing she would be vulnerable in custody.
Child protection charity NSPCC condemned the case as 'deeply disturbing,' with a spokesperson stating: 'Murray presented herself as an advocate for women who had lost their babies due to domestic abuse but at the same time was herself subjecting children to appalling physical, emotional and sexual abuse.' The charity emphasised the lasting impact of such abuse on survivors. This case, reported by the Perthshire Advertiser and Daily Record on 13 May 2025, underscores the hidden nature of abuse within communities and the importance of reporting suspicions.