Description
A depraved Scots predator has been caged after being convicted of raping two women as they slept.
Craig Dodds subjected a woman to horrific repeated sexual attacks 'several times a week' between April 2020 and April 2022.
During that time, Dodds, 25, from West Lothian, also slapped the woman on the body, issued threats of violence and repeatedly punched walls and himself on the head while blaming his actions on her.
Dodds was also convicted of raping the woman on various occasions at an address in West Lothian between September 2020 and April 2022.
He was also convicted of raping a second woman in Falkirk in 2018, Edinburgh Live reports.
While handing down a sentence of seven years and six months at the High Court in Edinburgh at the end of June, Lord Harrower told how, while living with his victim in West Lothian, he raped her several times a week while she slept.
On one occasion, the woman woke to find him engaging in sexual intercourse with her and locked herself in the bathroom and had a shower before sleeping on the sofa for the rest of the night. Despite this, Dodds continued to sexually assault his victim on several occasions.
Dodds also engaged in a course of abusive behaviour towards her including slamming doors, punching walls, directing abusive and derogatory remarks towards her and shouting at both her and a child.
On one occasions he assaulted the woman by slapping her leg to her injury.
The depraved abuser was also convicted of the rape of a second woman in Grangemouth in August 2018. On that occasion Dodds had driven her home after an evening socialising.
The woman had been drinking and woke to find Dodds having sexual intercourse with her in her own bed. Despite protesting, Dodds did not stop.
At the High Court in Edinburgh Dodds was sentenced to seven years and six months imprisonment and placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.
The sentence was backdated to May 15, 2025, when he was remanded in custody. A non-harassment order was also imposed, preventing Dodds from contacting, approaching or communicating with either victim for an indefinite period.
Lord Harrower said: "So far as harm is concerned, I have had regard to the complainers’ evidence and to their personal statements which bear witness to the devastating psychological impact which your offending has had upon them. As regards culpability, I bear in mind that these are your first offences.
"Although you are now aged 25 and the guideline for sentencing young persons does not apply, I have taken account of your relative youth and immaturity at the time these offences were committed. Rehabilitation is an important consideration, and I bear in mind also that you have responsibilities as a father. But for all these considerations the sentence I am about to impose would have been significantly longer.
"Had I been sentencing you separately in relation to these offences, I would have sentenced you as follows. In respect of charge 1, the offence is aggravated by reason of the fact that it occurred in the victim’s own home, while she was asleep or unconscious, and therefore in a vulnerable state.
"Your culpability is mitigated by youth and immaturity more for this offence than for the others. The term of imprisonment would have been 4 years and 6 months. In respect of charge 2, I would have sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of 1 year, 3 months of which would have been attributable to the child aggravation.
"In respect of charge 3, not only was the complainer asleep at the time of your offending, but it occurred repeatedly over a lengthy period, during much of which she would have been particularly vulnerable as a result of the course of abusive behaviour you inflicted upon her.
"Your offending was further aggravated because you risked causing an unwanted pregnancy. In respect of this charge, I would have sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of 6 years, 6 months of which would have been attributable to the domestic abuse aggravation."