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11 months ago
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A transgender butcher who kidnapped and sexually abused a young girl during a horrific 27-hour ordeal will today appeal against his sentence.
Andrew Miller, 53, who also uses the name Amy George, was dressed as a woman when he offered the primary school pupil - who he had never seen before - a lift in February.
He took the girl back to his house in the Scottish Borders and subjected her to repeated attacks, which a judge described as 'every parent’s worst nightmare'.
At the High Court in Edinburgh in October, Miller was handed a 28-year extended sentence, comprising 20 years behind bars and a further eight spent on licence under supervision in the community.
First Minister Humza Yousaf refused to say if Miller would serve his prison sentence in a men's or women's jail. However, when questioned by The Scottish Mail on Sunday – three days after Miller admitted his vile crime – Mr Yousaf appeared to have clarified his position. He said: 'So Andrew Miller is being housed in the male estate. If he is sentenced I would not expect that to change.'
The violent criminal was sent to HMP Edinburgh - the same male prison as transgender rapist Isla Bryson.
Transgender butcher Andrew Miller (pictured), 53, who also uses the name Amy George, kidnapped and sexually abused a little girl
Miller (pictured) was dressed as a woman when he offered the primary school-aged child - whom he had never seen before - a lift in February
Miller was granted permission to appeal his sentence and a hearing will take place this morning at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.
Sentencing Miller on October 18, judge Lord Arthurson described Miller’s crimes as 'brazen and chilling' and 'uniquely appalling'.
He said the offences were 'abhorrent crimes' of the utmost 'deviance and depravity' which were 'the realisation of every parent’s worst nightmare'.
The court was told Miller was transitioning into becoming a woman.
The child was locked in Miller’s home for 27 hours, during which time she was repeatedly touched, and also forced to watch pornography.
She eventually managed to dial 999 while Miller, who was wearing women’s underwear, was asleep.
At the time of his arrest, Miller was wearing a bra, women's underwear, tights and one silicone breast – the other had become dislodged during a struggle. Miller later told detectives he did not abduct the girl and that it was 'all a mistake'.
He claimed he stopped to offer her a lift because 'she was freezing'.
He said he put her in bed with him because 'it was a motherly thing'.
Miller pleaded guilty to charges of abduction, sexual assault, watching pornography in the presence of the child under the age of 13, and possessing 242 indecent images of children
Miller being led from Selkirk Sheriff Court following an earlier hearing
The decision to house him in a male prison followed a row over the jailing of transgender rapist Isla Bryson, who was sent to a female prison in February
Miller also admitted that he should 'never have gotten into this situation' during a six-hour police interview.
After his arrest, three laptops were seized from his property and a total of 242 indecent images of children were found. Searches for similar content were found in his internet history.
Miller has been placed on the sex offenders' register.
The decision to house him in a male prison followed a row over the jailing of transgender rapist Isla Bryson, who was sent to a female prison in February.
Bryson was later moved to a male prison.
The grinning monster in their midst
Standing at the counter of his butcher shop, Andrew Miller, who at the time called himself Amy, looks every bit the proud business owner
Standing at the counter of his butcher shop, he looks every bit the proud business owner.
Pictures from 2020 obtained by The Scottish Mail on Sunday show the blonde shopkeeper smiling beside a display of sausage rolls, chops and steak pies.
But despite being the welcoming face of Millers of Melrose butchers, Amy – as he was known to his customers – would go on to be unmasked as violent sex offender Andrew Miller, who created a secret room in the attic of his house in the Borders which would later become the scene of an attack that has shocked the nation.
After Miller's arrest the shop was boarded up – and locals began campaigning to have the shop-front permanently removed in response to his horrific crimes.
The child only managed to escape and call 999 for help after Miller fell asleep, the court was told
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