A FORMER greenkeeper at a golf club abused a young boy there during a series of attacks.

James Harkins preyed on the child, who was just eight when he first pounced.

The 64 year-old had been employed at Whitecraigs Golf Club in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire.

A judge heard how Harkins also tried to rape a young girl, who he has previously been convicted of attacking.

He is now behind bars after he pled guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to abusing both victims.

Harkins, of Lochgilphead, Argyll and Bute, will learn his fate next month.

The crimes occurred from 1986 to 1995.

The boy was aged eight to 13 when he was preyed upon.

The attacks began at a house in Newton Mearns where Harkins lived at the time.

Harkins told the boy it was to be their “secret”.

Prosecutor Gordon Lamont said the abuse then “escalated” to the extent it felt “normal” to the victim.

The court heard he was also pounced on the boy at Whitecraigs Golf Club where Harkins was a greenkeeper at the time.

It occurred in a hut and a bothy there.

The victim eventually spoke to police in England in 2012, but the court was told he “heard nothing” back.

It was in 2016, he then went to officers in Scotland and a probe began.

The investigation led detectives to another victim.

She was aged between seven to 10 at the time of the incidents.

Harkins claimed he had got “urges” when the abuse happened.

He pled guilty to a string of charges including lewd and libidinous behaviour and attempted rape.

Lewis Kennedy, defending, told the court: “He is realistic about his fate.”