THE twisted crimes of a cruel pensioner who callously abused and humiliated children at an Inverclyde residential home half-a-century ago finally caught up with her yesterday.

Euphemia Ramsay, 76, was found guilty by a jury of targeting young primary school-aged victims at Quarrier's Village in the 1960s and 70s.

The retired 'house parent' who had been allocated a cottage in which to care for the children repeatedly punched and kicked one victim on his head and body, struck him with a slipper and spat in his face.

She also forced the child to bathe in cold water, sleep on a concrete floor in an outhouse in his nightwear, and left him alone in the cottage as a form of punishment for not completing tasks she had set.

On occasions when the child had wet the bed, Ramsay forced him to remove his nightwear and stand naked in front of other residents, as well as withholding meals as punishment.

She also instructed a member of staff, whose identity is unknown, to force food she knew the victim disliked into his mouth, causing him to choke.

Another victim - now a retired police officer - wept as she told a trial at Greenock Sheriff Court: “They are memories I wish I didn’t have.

“Auntie Effie was meant to care for and look after us and she just completely abused that trust.

“It would’ve been easier for me not to be here today.”

Ramsay, known as 'Auntie Effie' to her victims, committed the offences against the female when she was aged eight to 10 at the time and a male aged between five and six.

The jury convicted her of treating the children ‘cruelly and unnaturally’.

Ramsay committed further abuse against the girl between January 1972 and April 1973, whereby she repeatedly placed cold uneaten food before her and withheld meals if she failed to eat it.

She also seized the child by the body and forced her on to a table, instructing another person to force food into her mouth.

Ramsay was further convicted of seizing the child by the body and striking her with a shoe to her injury.

Ramsay appeared in court yesterday as closing statements were delivered to the jury.

Fiscal depute Kirstin Brierley called on the seven men and eight women to convict her of both charges, noting that she had ‘grossly violated’ her duty of care to the children.

Ramsay’s defence solicitor claimed the Crown's case was ‘fundamentally flawed’.

He said: “It’s not built of brick, it’s built of straw.

"When the big bad wolf comes puffing, it blows the house down.

“The life of a woman in the late afternoon of her life is at stake."

The lawyer also highlighted that neither witness had been able to identify Ramsay in court during their evidence.

He added: “Nobody identified Euphemia Ramsay. Not even the retired police officer.

“What evidence is there as to who Auntie Effie is?

“What evidence is there that Auntie Effie is the lady sitting in the dock?”

Addressing the jury in her closing statement, the fiscal depute said: “I wonder if you, ladies and gentlemen, would be able to identify someone you met at a young age 50 years ago.

"I ask you to consider the traumatic incidents the two witnesses were being asked to describe, their age at the time and the time that has passed."

Ramsay stood stoney-faced in the dock as the majority guilty verdicts were delivered.

Sheriff James Varney deferred sentencing until September 11 for the preparation of reports.