A MAN and a woman from East Renfrewshire are accused of taking part in a child sex ring also allegedly involving witchcraft, serious violence and neglect.

Iain Owens and Elaine Lannery are among 11 people who today faced a combined total of 43 charges during a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow.

The accusations mainly centre around three young children – two girls and a boy – covering a period between January 2010 and March 2020 at various addresses in Glasgow.

They include claims the children were raped at different times, with one of the girls said to have been shut in a microwave during an attempt to kill her.

It is also alleged the children were forced to take part in satanic "seances" and made to kill animals.

Owens, 43, and Lannery, 38, deny the charges, as do co-accused Lesley Williams, 40, Paul Brannan, 40, Marianne Gallagher, 37, Scott Forbes, 49, Barry Watson, 46, Mark Carr, 49, Richard Gachagan, 44, Leona Laing, 50, and John Clark, 46.

It is alleged that Owens and Lannery, both of Thornliebank, neglected the three youngsters, along with another child.

The accusation includes a claim they got the boy to "courier controlled drugs" on their behalf.

It is then said 10 of the group, apart from Forbes, assaulted the older girl to the danger of her life, starting when she was six.

This included putting a black plastic bag over her head.

The girl was also allegedly made to eat cat food, as well as take drugs and alcohol.

The next charge states Owens, Lannery, Williams, Brannan and Gallagher assaulted the young boy.

It is said he was put in a bath which he was allegedly told was filled with blood.

Owens, Lannery, Williams, Brannan and Clark are then accused of the attempted murder of the younger of the two girls, starting when she was just weeks old.

It is alleged she was pushed into a microwave, an oven, a fridge-freezer and various cupboards.

The next charge claims Owens, Lannery, Williams and Brannan assaulted the other child mentioned in the earlier neglect accusation.

Prosecutors state all 11 accused got the boy and the older girl to take part in "seances (and) use a Ouija board...to call on spirits and demons."

They also allegedly got the children involved in "witchcraft," leading them to believe they themselves had "metamorphosed into animals."

All 11 are further said to have worn cloaks and devil horns, as well making the young boy stab a budgie to death.

Owens faces a number of charges that he raped the older girl, with both Owens and Lannery accused of a sex abuse charge involving the boy and the younger girl.

Prosecutors further state that Gachagan, Laing, Carr, Forbes and Watson paid for "sexual services" from three of the children, with Owens and Lannery said to have "facilitated" this.

The indictment goes on to state that Owens and Lannery took part in the rape of the boy.

A further charge claims Owens and Lannery had sex in front of children.

In addition, both face charges of attempting to defeat the ends of justice and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

This includes claims the older girl was threatened and a call to the police was disconnected.

Judge Lord Beckett set an eight-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow for September next year.

Owens and Lannery; Brannan and Clark, of Clydebank; Carr, Forbes, Gallagher, Gachagan and Watson, all of Glasgow; Williams, of Lennoxtown; and Laing, of Rutherglen; also face a further hearing in October.