A private landlord in Edinburgh has been banned from letting property in the city after he failed to report a sex crime conviction on his registration form.

Kevin Cowley, originally of Easthouses, Midlothian, was jailed for four years in 2018 after being found guilty of indecent assault against a 15-year-old girl.

Cowley was sentenced on 20 August 2018 at the High Court in Edinburgh after pleading guilty to an attack; the daughter of the friend woke up in a state of partial undress at a friend’s caravan in East Lothian with Cowley leaning over her.

Councillors were told on Monday that Cowley did not report his conviction when applying for landlord registration in the city in relation to a property on Water Street in Leith, EH6.

During sentencing, Lord Boyd of Duncansby told Cowley: “You gave no explanation for your behaviour but it is clear it was for your own sexual gratification. It is clear this had a traumatic and lasting effect on your victim.”

Cowley was placed on the sex offender’s registry for life, and jailed for four years.

He did not attend the committee meeting, and his landlord registration was revoked in his absence.