Case Against Scottish Coach Accused Of Child Sex Offence Delayed

19 January 2017, 12:58

The case against a former Celtic, Hibs and Falkirk coach and kitman charged with a child sex offence has been put back for a week because one legal matter is still outstanding, a prosecutor said.

Jim McCafferty, 70, was involved in football in Scotland and Ireland from the 1980s and was arrested in Belfast by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) after walking into a police station.

He was charged with engaging in sexual activity with a child in Northern Ireland aged 13 to 16 between December 2011 and December 2014 and appeared on Thursday before Belfast's city centre Laganside Courthouse via video link from prison, where he is being held for his own safety.

McCafferty, originally from Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, but more recently living in Raby Street in South Belfast.

The defendant was accused of sexually touching a boy aged under 16.

He is being held in prison as no suitable address is available, police told a previous hearing.

The balding defendant made his way into the video link booth using a walking frame.

He was remanded in custody to reappear before the same court remotely next week.