The smile was wiped off the face of a retired Falmouth man on Friday as he was labelled a paedophile and told he would be going to prison for 12 years. Retired builder Stanley Pirie, 78, had earlier laughed in the dock as he was accused of raping two young girls. Pirie, a well known builder in and around the town, raped and sexually abused the girls over a period of 21 years. His sordid catalogue of abuse and rape had begun when the girls, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were just toddlers. It continued until they were in their twenties - by then their lives devastated by Pirie's vile abuse. In a unanimous verdict at Truro Crown Court a jury found him guilty of two counts of rape, three of attempted rape, eight of indecent assault and three of indecency with a child. Judge Francis Gilbert QC told him he had shown no remorse for his crimes. Throughout the trial Pirie had accused his victims and their families of being liars and even laughed as one charge of rape was put to him, the judge said.

(For more on this story see this week's Falmouth Packet)