Former Celtic kit man remanded on child sex charge

Jim McCafferty, 70, was involved in football in Scotland and Ireland from the 1980s and was arrested in Belfast last month by the PSNI after walking into a police station.

He was charged with engaging in sexual activity with a child in Northern Ireland aged 13-16 between December 2011 and December 2014 and appeared on Thursday before Belfast’s Laganside Courthouse via video link from prison, where he is being held for his own safety.

A Public Prosecution Service (PPS) lawyer said: “A full file has been requested and is still outstanding.”

Officers are still working on the case before the final conclusions of the investigation along with all the evidence can be handed to prosecutors.

McCafferty, originally from Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, but more recently living in Raby Street in South Belfast, was formerly a kitman at Celtic, Hibernian and Falkirk.

The defendant was accused of sexually touching a boy aged under 16.

He is being held in prison as no suitable address is available, police told a previous hearing.

The balding defendant wore a yellow long-sleeved top and made his way into the video link booth using a Zimmer frame.

He was remanded in custody to reappear before the same court remotely on January 16.