Graeme Dott
Introduction
Graeme Dott is a 49-year-old former professional snooker player who was crowned world champion in 2006, and who was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh to seven years’ imprisonment after being convicted of engaging in lewd and libidinous practices — sexual abuse — towards two children . Lord Harrower sentenced Dott in cumulo on both charges on 29 September 2026, backdating the sentence to 24 August 2026 when he was remanded in custody, and imposed indefinite notification requirements under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 . The court heard the abuse of the first child, a girl referred to as Jane, began when she was about 9 or 10 and Dott was 16 or 17; the abuse of the second, a boy referred to as Kevin, began about ten years later, when Kevin was 8 and Dott was a married man in his thirties with a family of his own . Dott continues to maintain his innocence, a position the judge acknowledged while noting it left no room to credit remorse or insight .
Background Information
Dott rose from the Scottish junior snooker scene to the top of the professional game, winning the sport’s world championship in 2006 and reaching the final again in 2010; the conviction and sentence ended his professional career, an impact defence counsel asked the court to take into account and which the judge said he had considered . At the sentencing hearing, advocate Mr Dow spoke on Dott’s behalf; the judge also had before him a social work report assessing Dott as presenting a below-average risk of sexual re-offending, and noting his only previous convictions were for relatively minor road traffic offences . The sentencing statement was published by the Judiciary of Scotland, an indication of the public interest in the case given his profile in the sport .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted at trial; maintains his innocence.
Lord Harrower’s sentencing remarks set out the findings the jury made. Dott abused Jane on various occasions when she was about 9 or 10, when he himself was 16 or 17; about ten years later he engaged in similar offending against Kevin, who was 8 when it began and whose abuse continued until he was about 12 . In both cases the abuse included penetrative sexual activity and, in Jane’s case, behaviour that would now be classed as rape . The judge found Dott’s behaviour bore “the classic hallmarks of grooming”: he rewarded the children with treats, warned them they would not be believed if they told anyone, and disguised the abuse as part of a game or personal care . The judge said Dott had “robbed the complainers of a significant part of their childhood”, with both providing personal statements describing struggles to make sense of their lives amid fear, shame and anger, and continuing impacts on their adult mental well-being . Had separate sentences been imposed on each charge, the judge said he would have imposed four years on each; he instead sentenced both charges in cumulo to seven years, backdated to Dott’s remand on 24 August 2026 .
Public Reaction and Consequences
The conviction of a former world champion on child sexual abuse charges drew attention well beyond the snooker world, and the sentencing statement’s publication made the court’s findings — the grooming, the violation of trust, the victims’ statements — part of the public record of his career . The judge expressly acknowledged “the impact that these convictions have already had on your career”, while cautioning that Dott’s continued denial meant he could not take account of any remorse or insight into the harm inflicted . Dott will remain subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for an indefinite period .
Current Status
Dott is serving a seven-year prison sentence imposed on 29 September 2026 and backdated to 24 August 2026, with indefinite sex-offence notification requirements . He maintains his innocence, which the judge recognised as his right, and any appeal against the conviction would be conducted on that basis . No appeal had been reported in the sources available at the time of writing .
Impact on Their Career/Life
Dott’s place in snooker — a world champion at the Crucible in 2006, a finalist in 2010 — is now permanently joined to the court’s findings about the sexual abuse of two children, one beginning when Dott was himself a teenager and the second when he was a married adult with a family of his own, a gross violation of trust in the judge’s words . The seven-year sentence, indefinite notification requirements and the end of his professional career follow from a conviction the court recorded after a trial, on evidence the judge described in the detailed sentencing remarks that now form the public account of his offending .