Sheriff Gerard Sinclair granted an absolute discharge after the teenager was found guilty at the end of a three-day trial at Dumbarton sheriff court last month

A dental student found guilty of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl will face no punishment after being granted an absolute discharge.

Christopher Daniel, 18, denied carrying out numerous assaults on the girl while he was aged 15 to 17 and she was between six and eight.

He was granted the discharge by Sheriff Gerard Sinclair after being found guilty at Dumbarton sheriff court at the end of a three-day trial. It means that Daniel, from Glasgow, will not be placed on the sex offenders register and the guilty verdict was not recorded as a conviction.

The victim’s family were not allowed to see a report sent by the sheriff to the Crown Office explaining his “wholly exceptional” decision, an STV investigation has found. They believe