Bulgarian man, 23, put on sex offenders register after assaulting 12-year-old girl in Dundee

Two Bulgarian siblings who assaulted girls during an incident in Dundee last year have been sentenced, with one being placed on the sex offenders register.

Ilia Belov, 23, assaulted a 12-year-old girl and behaved in a “threatening or abusive manner” towards four girls aged between 12 and 14 during the incident.

On Friday, he was sentenced to 18 months of supervision, 300 hours of unpaid work, and had his name put on the sex offenders register for 18 months after being found guilty following a trial at Dundee Sheriff Court earlier this year.

Belov’s sister Nadjedzha Belova, 20, earlier pleaded guilty to one charge of assaulting a 13-year-old girl during the same incident, which happened in the Lochee area of the city in August 2025.

During the same hearing at Dundee Sheriff Court on Friday, Belova was sentenced to 180 hours of unpaid work.

Sheriff Timothy Niven-Smith had earlier dismissed Belov’s version of events, describing it as “neither credible nor reliable”.

During the trial, the court heard events began when Belov made sexual remarks to a 12-year-old as she walked towards a bus stop with some other girls.

Giving evidence by videolink, the girl, now aged 14, recalled: “He kept saying, ‘come here sexy. I will show you how to have a good time’.”

She said his words made her feel “dead angry” and she turned around and began shouting at him. Belov then phoned his sister, who arrived shortly afterwards and began attacking a 13-year-old member of the group.

In the ensuing fracas, Belov pushed the 12-year-old, who told the court she hit her head on a metal handrail as she fell to the ground.

After standing back up, she pulled out an axe and knife she said had been hidden in her waistband for five to 10 minutes before the incident.

When the police arrived minutes later, the girl said she dumped the weapons on a nearby roundabout, where they were later recovered by officers.

Belov had denied making sexualised remarks to the girls, telling the court they had been saying derogatory things to him, including calling him a “f****** migrant”.