Freed, child abuser who was jailed along with ex-SNP adviser

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 08:44 EDT, 4 September 2026 | Updated: 09:04 EDT, 4 September 2026 One of Britain’s most notorious paedophiles – who was jailed alongside a former SNP government adviser as part of a child abuse network – has been freed from prison.Neil Strachan, 58, described by a High Court judge as ‘sadistic and aggressive’, was recently let out of jail on licence, months after the release of his accomplice James Rennie, 54.Rennie, an ex-chief executive of gay and trans rights charity LGBT Youth Scotland, was also an SNP government adviser on child sex issues.Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Stephen Kerr said: ‘This is a truly sickening and the public need absolute assurances he will be monitored relentlessly for the rest of his life.’Strachan, who tried to rape a toddler, had been held at Castle Huntly open prison near Dundee. The pair, both from Edinburgh, were serving sentences reduced to eight-and-a-half and nine years respectively.Strachan was originally ordered to serve a minimum of 16 years before becoming eligible to seek release. However, the punishment part of his sentence was cut to nine years by appeal judges in 2011.He was convicted of attempting to rape an 18-month-old boy and of downloading child abuse images. Former Scottish Government adviser Rennie was jailed after molesting the toddler son of unsuspecting friends.The child Strachan tried to rape was not the same one as Rennie’s principal victim.Both were made subject to Orders for Lifelong Restriction, meaning they could only be released if deemed safe by the Parole Board and would remain on licence for the rest of their lives.A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said: ‘We don’t comment on individual prisoners.’