Latest Offenders Aberdeen

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An offshore worker has been found guilty of molesting a 14-year-old girl as she slept in her bed.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard Darren Rutherford crept into the teenager’s bedroom and sexually assaulted her in the early hours of the morning.

Rutherford, 44, pleaded not guilty to the allegation but was convicted after a jury heard there was DNA evidence that backed up his victim’s claims.

The court was told the sickening attack has “changed how the victim lives her life”.

A jury took just over an hour to find Rutherford unanimously guilty of one charge of sexual assault, which included penetrative sexual assault, at an address in Aberdeen.

Sheriff Miller deferred sentence on Rutherford, of Laws Road, Aberdeen, until March 4 this year in order for a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment to be carried out.

The sheriff also made Rutherford subject to the sex offenders register.

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A married barman who raped a teenage girl in bushes near a popular Oban music and wedding venue has been jailed.

Anouar Ben Said, 36, pounced on his 19-year-old victim after she had left a pub six hours after meeting colleagues for drinks.

The disgusting predator attacked the terrified young woman in bushes near the car park of The Corran Halls in the early hours of  August 13th 2021.

A jury at the High Court in Stirling was told that the off-duty hotel worker put his hand over the victim’s mouth, removed her clothing and raped her – leaving behind his DNA.

The sex offender from Tunisia went on trial after pleading not guilty to rape – claiming the sex was consensual – but prosecutor David Logan described the ordeal as “a nightmare”.

Anouar Ben Said was living in Oban at the time of the ‘nightmare’ rape

Jurors didn’t believe Ben Said as they heard evidence over a three-day trial.

Witnesses told the court they had seen the teenage girl come “sprinting” out of the bushes “screaming” or crying.

She received scratches to her face from twigs and branches as she fled through the undergrowth.

The stricken young woman collapsed “distraught” when she found people she knew in the car park and later spoke of what had happened.

Judge Lord Weir told jurors they were entitled to take evidence of her distress into account.

Ben Said jailed for the rape near The Corran Halls in Oban

The jury of eight men and seven women took under three hours to find Ben Said guilty of rape.

They reached the verdict unanimously.

Lord Weir revoked bail and deferred sentence until January 12 next year at the High Court in Edinburgh.

He told Ben Said he had been found guilty of “a very serious and concerning rape”.

Andrew Crosbie, defending the now-convicted criminal, reserved mitigation for the sentencing hearing in the new year.

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A sex offender jailed in 2019 for attacking and trying to rape a stranger in Aberdeen has found himself back in the dock after trying to sign up for a dating site.

Dangerous predator Andrew Conway found himself in trouble again after joining the dating site Fancy A Fling but failing to properly inform police – a breach of the notification requirement of the sex offenders register.

The 39-year-old was using the username HandyAndy on the site, but managed to mix up some numbers at the end of the name and so ended up giving police an incorrect account.

Conway had only been released on licence from prison for around a month before the breach happened, meaning he was returned to jail to serve another four months of the original sentence.

He’d been jailed in 2019 for four years and five months, and put on the sex offenders register for life, over two brutal sex attacks.

The woman was attacked at about 12.30am on Saturday August 11 2019 when Conway followed her as she walked along George Street in the early hours of the morning.

The 35-year-old then hit her on the head, grabbed her by the neck and put her in a headlock before dragging her into a block of flats and demanding that she have sex with him.

‘Impact upon all women who walk the streets of Aberdeen at night’

Court papers state that the woman was “struggling to breathe” while Conway manhandled her off George Street and into a doorway near St Andrew Street.

He admitted “pushing her to the ground” and demanding that she remove her underwear and “engage in sexual activity”.

The woman managed to get away and was assisted by the scene by passers-by who helped her retrieve her belongings and gave her a lift home.

The incident happened just three months after the 35-year-old had been released on bail for sexually assaulting another woman.

He pleaded guilty to locking her in a bathroom, taking away her phone “to prevent her calling for help” and “detaining her against her will”.

He then “repeatedly” asked her to engage in sexual activity, kissed her on the neck and pushed her to the ground before trying to force her to perform a sex act on him.

At the time, Sheriff Graeme Napier said the assault would have a “chilling impact” across the city.

‘The consequences for him were serious’

He said: “Not only has this incident impacted upon your victim, but it will have an impact upon all women who find they have to walk the streets of Aberdeen at night.

“You were motivated by satisfying your own sexual needs, without having any respect for the victims.”

Appearing in court this week, Conway, now of George Street, Aberdeen, pled guilty to failing to correctly notify police of the dating site profile between July 29 and August 3 2022.

Defence agent John Hardie said his client had got mixed up between his age and the year of his birth when telling police the numbers at the end of the HandyAndy username.

He said: “This is a technical and not deliberate breach.

“He did everything he could to put it right as quickly as he could.

“The consequences for him were serious. He had been released from the sentence he was serving for one month prior to the transgression.

“He was recalled and served an extra four months.”

Sheriff Margaret Hodge admonished the sex offender, meaning the conviction goes on his record but he faces no other punishment.

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A predatory Aberdeen photographer who sexually assaulted young models was today jailed for 20 months.

Simon ‘Sid’ Scott was found guilty of a catalogue of sexual assault and indecent behaviour charges involving young women after a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in August.

A jury of nine women and six men took around six hours to find the 44-year-old guilty of five sexual assaults. They returned not proven verdicts on the remaining seven charges.

Defence advocate David Taylor said his client was “well aware” custody would be at the forefront of the court’s mind, but urged Sheriff Morag McLaughlin to impose a community order instead.

He pointed out Scott had not been in trouble prior to or since the incidents and that a background social work report was largely “in positive terms”.

Mr Taylor said: “He’s not saying he did it, he’s saying that behaviour is unacceptable and he doesn’t approve of it.”

He went on: “He’s ceased all engagement in professional photography and modelling since this case and has no intention to return to it.

“Even if he wanted to return, there’s really no prospect of him returning.

“If he did ever return, there would be a viral backlash.

“There was regular reporting on the trial in the local press on a daily basis. It’s very clear, as a result of that, his name is synonymous with the offences.”

Mr Taylor added that Scott’s camera equipment, worth tens of thousands of pounds, was seized by police at the time of the offences and would now be worth “a fraction” of that.

The lawyer told the court: “In my submission, we have not yet reached the point where it could be said custody is the only appropriate disposal in this case.”

Simon Scott carried out a ‘predatory course of conduct’

Sheriff McLaughlin, however, said she was “not persuaded” and sentenced him to a total of 20 months behind bars and placed him on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

She said: “I’m afraid I’m not persuaded there’s an appropriate disposal other than imprisonment.

“This was a predatory course of conduct against complainers who were much younger than you, very young women.”

The trial, which lasted 12 days and saw 13 women give evidence via video link, saw Scott described as a “manipulative”, “opportunistic” and “predatory” sex offender.

The verdict:

The charge of indecently assaulting a then 18-year-old woman in 2008 as she slept in his bed at a flat on George Street, Aberdeen, was found: NOT PROVEN

On a 2015 charge of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman during a Christmas Eve photoshoot at City Dance Moves, Aberdeen, Scott was found: GUILTY

A 2015 charge of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl during a photoshoot in a public park in Glasgow, was found: NOT PROVEN

Another 2015 charge that Scott sexually assaulted a 17-year-old model in a wooded area outside Aberdeen, was found: NOT PROVEN

On a sexual assault charge libelled between 2015 to 2016 and alleged to have taken place at the Jurys Inn Hotel in Aberdeen, Scott was found GUILTY of assaulting a 20-year-old woman.

On a charge from December 2015 of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old girl during a photoshoot at the Citizen M Hotel in Glasgow, Scott was found: GUILTY

On a charge from April 2016, Scott was found GUILTY of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in her home.

A charge alleged to have taken place between September 2016 and February 2017 on the grounds of Aberdeen University and the woman’s home in Garthdee, was found: NOT PROVEN

On charge 10, where it is alleged the photographer sexually assaulted a 17-year-old schoolgirl at Glasgow’s Citizen M Hotel in February 2017, Scott was found: GUILTY

On a charge from October 2017, again at Aberdeen University campus, and involving a 17-year-old dancer, was found: NOT PROVEN

A charge that Scott sexually assaulted a student at Denburn Car Park and an underpass at Mounthooly Roundabout in August 2017, was found: NOT PROVEN

The final charge, from 2018, alleging Scott sexually assaulted an 18-year-old model and actress in her Aberdeen flat, was found: NOT PROVEN

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A paedophile jailed for historic sexual abuse dating back to the 1980s has been branded a “vile monster” by the family of one of his victims.

John Ritchie was snared when one young girl recorded the abuse on her mobile phone and alerted police.

That prompted an investigation that saw victims come forward and accuse the 65-year-old of sexually assaulting them when they were children.

Following a trial at Peterhead Sheriff Court, a jury unanimously convicted Ritchie of three charges of sexual assault on two teenagers, one of whom he started abusing in 1989.

He was also found guilty by majority verdict on two charges of sex assaults involving a woman and a teenage girl.

Sheriff Ian Wallace jailed Ritchie for over two years and placed him on the sex offenders register for a decade.

‘He groomed these girls’

Describing Ritchie as a “vile and sick person”, a family member of one of his victims said that she was “disgusted” over the breach of trust shown by him.

“He groomed these girls. He’s a vile sick person – a monster,” the girl’s relative said.

“I’m glad he didn’t plead guilty and took this to trial because now people have seen and heard for themselves what he did.”

One of his victims, in an impact statement to the court, described how Ritchie’s abuse still affects her home and school life.

She wrote: “This has affected my life in a huge way. I take panic attacks on a daily basis … my mood has changed. I am angry I didn’t speak up sooner.

“I am now getting counselling. I can’t eat or sleep and now having to take medication. I feel sad, worried and angry all the time now and I always used to feel happy.

“He has totally ruined the last year of my life and I am not the happy girl I used to be.”

Serial sex abuser

Ritchie, who worked as a joiner, was found guilty by unanimous verdict of sexual offences on one teenage girl between August 25 1989 and August 24 1991 at addresses across Aberdeenshire.

The charge states that he pinned her down on a bed where he climbed on top of her and touched her all over her body, including fondling her breasts.

On another occasion, Ritchie climbed on top of the girl while in a car and again sexually assaulted her by touching her with his hands.

At a different address, Ritchie was also unanimously convicted of indecent assault involving the same girl between 1994 and 1994 when she was an older teenager.

It was stated that he pinned her against a wall and grabbed at her breasts and tried to force his hands inside her underwear.

Ritchie was found guilty on a charge involving a second teenage girl whom he indecently assaulted at a pub, near Fraserburgh, by kissing her and grabbing at her breasts and buttocks.

He was also found guilty by majority verdict by the jury on a charge that he sexually assaulted a woman at a hotel in Rosehearty between 2012 and 2013.

The jury unanimously convicted Ritchie of a final charge of sex offences involving a third teenage girl that took place last year at addresses in Aberdeenshire and East Lothian.

He touched the girl’s body and touched her private parts before unfastening his belt and beckoning her to come into his bedroom.

He was additionally handed a not proven verdict on one charge of kissing a woman without her consent.

At Ritchie’s sentence hearing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, Sheriff Wallace sentenced Ritchie, of Muirison Drive, Rosehearty, to 28 months in prison.

He also placed Ritchie on the sex offender’s register for 10 years.

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A paedophile was caught with scores of videos featuring young girls who were unaware theyd been recorded in Aberdeen city centre, a court has heard.

Greig Dow, 41, admitted a series of charges concerning images and videos found on his devices when police raided his home in September 2019.

They uncovered more than 5,500 indecent images of children and over 19 hours of video footage.

There were even recordings featuring Dow and a girl aged between seven and nine years old and videos of teenage girls that he had recorded around the city.

The footage, which featured the unsuspecting young girls, focused on intimate parts of their bodies or their tight-fitting clothing.

Fiscal depute Dylan Middleton told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that police had a search warrant for Dows home on September 5 2019 after receiving worrying intelligence.

A number of confiscated devices held a total of 5,583 indecent images of children and videos with a combined duration of 19 hours and 44 minutes.

The images spanned April 30 2008 to December 21 2022.

Around 5,537 images were of the least serious Category C, but six images and 11 videos were Category B and two videos were the most severe Category A.

However, as cybercrime officers went through the footage they discovered videos featuring Dow and a girl aged between seven and nine who he had sexually assaulted between 2011 and 2013.

During a series of videos that last several hours, Dow is seen embracing the child, placing her on his lap and squeezing her buttocks.

In another video, he kisses her on the mouth for around a minute, while in other videos he is seen kissing the child before making a devil horns gesture to the camera or punching the air in celebration.

Videos that show Dow focusing the camera on the childs buttocks or crotch area were also discovered.

When interviewed by the police about the incidents, the girl said she had no recollection of the events taking place.

During his own police interview, Dow claimed that the touching was playful and not sexual.

On Dows devices, officers also found footage that hed recorded of young girls on Union Street and St Nicholas Street in Aberdeen.

A series of videos showed him focusing on the buttocks of teenage girls, especially ones wearing shorts or tight leggings.

The girls appear unaware they are being filmed and, on one occasion, Dow filmed a mum and her young daughter until the woman appears to look directly into the camera, at which point the camera suddenly focuses on Union Street.

During an unannounced home visit in March last year, officers discovered that Dow had downloaded the MEGA cloud storage and file hosting app onto his phone without notifying police breaching the notification requirements of the sex offenders register.

A further 226 images and video files were found that showed 45 instances when Dow had followed young girls close to Beach Boulevard, Aberdeen, where he again focused on their buttocks.

Appearing in the dock on Monday, Dow pled guilty to one charge of sexually assaulting an underage child.

He also admitted to a second charge of making video recordings of an underage child and pled guilty to a third charge of downloading indecent images of children.

Dow also pled guilty to a charge of conducting himself in a disorderly manner by filming young girls around Aberdeen and a final charge of breaching the registration requirements.

His defence solicitor, Bruce MacDonald, asked for reports into Dows background to be produced.

Mr MacDonald said that his client had already been remanded for the equivalent of 16 months in prison.

He also added that the sexual abuse the girl in the videos had suffered had no noticeable impact on her, but admitted that on a number of occasions Dows behaviour did cross a line.

"He took it hard that that was something that he had to own up to, Mr MacDonald said.

Sheriff Andrew Miller told Dow that he didnt consider it appropriate to grant him bail.

Im concerned by the number and nature and the time scale of these offences that involve historic incidents involving this young child, he added.

Deferring sentence on Dow until next month, Sheriff Miller ordered a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment to be carried out.

He also placed Dow, whose address was given as the prison HMP Grampian, on the sex offenders register.

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An Aberdeen barman who hunted underage girls for sex on Snapchat has been jailed for two years.

Richard Preston, 33, used the social media app to contact his victims – aged just 14 and 15 –  before inviting them to his city centre flat for sex.

The 33-year-old, who Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told has a “high sex drive”, committed the offences “at a low point in his life”, his solicitor said.

The family of one of his victims welcomed the sentence, saying “a small measure of justice has been served”.

Fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the first girl, aged 14, was contacted on Snapchat by Preston, who was using a pseudonym.

Father discovered incriminating messages

The girl made Preston aware of her age when they started to communicate but, undeterred, he invited her to meet for sex.

They met at Preston’s home on Union Grove on July 11 2022, where he showed her to the bedroom and told her to get undressed.

He then had sex with her before sending her home.

A second victim, a 15-year-old girl with autism, was identified when her father came across messages on her phone and contacted the police.

One of the conversations on Snapchat showed that Preston arranged to meet the girl at his address.

When police spoke to the child, she confirmed she had made Preston aware of her age, and that, at Preston’s instigation, she had sex with him.

Preston, of Union Grove, Aberdeen, pled guilty to two charges of, on at least one occasion, separately contacting the teenagers and making arrangements for them to come to his home.

He also admitted two charges of having sex with underage girls.

‘He was aware of the ages of the victims’

Defence agent Alex Burn said: “He has one previous conviction which is more or less analogous, although there’s no sex involved in that case.

“There’s no minimising his involvement in these activities.

“The position is, he stated, leading up to the offences he was at a low point in his life, lacking fulfilment, and things were not going well at work. He was bored.”

Mr Burn described his client as having a “high sex drive”, adding: “He met various women for sex through dating sites.”

He continued: “Mr Preston works as a barman and receives contact numbers from females to meet at some stage.

“He was aware of the ages of the victims and he takes full responsibility.

‘Perhaps some other little girls have been saved’

“He understands the law around the age of legal consent for sex and understands what he did was illegal.”

Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood told Preston: “Conduct of this sort easily crosses the custodial threshold.

“I can see no reason not to impose one.”

The sheriff sentenced Preston to two years in prison.

He also placed him on the sex offenders register.

Following the court hearing, the family of one of the victims said: “Although we would have liked a longer sentence, we are glad that a small measure of justice has been served.

“Perhaps some other little girls have been saved from the ordeal that has faced his victims in this case. ”

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A woman has been placed on the sex offenders register after she sent naked images of herself to a 15-year-old boy.

Galina Radkova appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted sending sexual messages to the teen over a four-month period, including pictures of her naked body.

It was stated that the 44-year-old then asked the teenager to send naked pictures of himself in exchange.

Texts, in which she told the youth she wanted to have sex with him, were also sent.

Months later, Radkova threatened the boy and demanded that he delete all messages.

These incidents, now all admitted by Radkova, took place at her home address as well as the Spar store on Provost Watt Drive, in Kincorth, and elsewhere.

Woman messaged teen for four months

The charges state that between June 1 and October 12 last year she did “coerce” a then-15-year-old boy into looking at a sexual image and did communicate indecently with him “for the purposes of gaining sexual gratification”.

It goes on to state that Radkova sent sexual images of her breasts, buttocks and private parts to the teenager.

She also sent “written sexual communication” alongside “direct verbal sexual communication” where she asked him to send sexual images of himself.

Radkova, either verbally or via message, then requested to embrace, touch or kiss the teenager and asked him to attend her home address for the purposes of sex.

She also complimented his body and asked whether he would be interested in having sex with her.

All of this was done “without his consent” and without the “reasonable belief that he was consenting”.

Accused made threats so boy would delete messages

A second charge alleges that between August 1 and September 30 last year, Radkova behaved in a threatening or abusive manner to the boy by sending messages that were likely to cause him fear or alarm.

It states she sent him threatening messages requesting that he delete all communication from her.

Radkova was additionally accused of lunging at him, attempting to kiss him and demanding that the boy return the money that she had given him.

In the dock, Radkova pleaded guilty to carrying out what was described in each of the charges.

Her solicitor, Stuart Murray, called for reports to be carried out into his client’s background prior to her sentencing.

Sheriff Ian Wallace deferred sentence on Radkova, of  Kincorth Circle, Aberdeen, until next month in order for a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty assessment to be carried out.

Sheriff Wallace also made Radkova subject to the sex offenders register.

Description

An Aberdeen sex offender has been jailed after he was caught with indecent images of children for the second time.

Alasdair Rae, 22, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court and admitted having of scores of images and videos of children on his iPhone when police searched his home.

Some of the children featured in the indecent material were as young as six.

Rae, a registered sex offender, was handed a community payback order in 2021 after he was found with more than 30 hours of sick sexual videos featuring children between the ages of two and 15.

Alasdair Rae had indecent content on iPhone

Fiscal depute Lucy Simpson told the court that on July 12 last year police were alerted by the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit that Rae was in possession of indecent images and videos.

A Snapchat account linked to him had uploaded content to the internet, she said.

On August 9, police attended Rae’s home with a warrant and a search of the property was carried out.

“A number of devices were found, which the accused confirmed all belonged to him,” Ms Simpson added.

“Cybercrime officers attended and carried out preview examinations on the devices found at the locus that indicated the accused had indecent images and videos of children on his iPhone.”

Officers found 12 Category A images and seven Category A videos, 30 Category B images and eight Category B videos and 57 Category C images and two Category C videos on his phone.

The images and videos featured both boys and girls aged between six and 14 years old.

The videos found had a total playtime of five hours and 23 minutes.

Rae pleaded guilty to one charge of downloading indecent images of children and a second charge of being in possession of indecent images.

‘Attitude’ has been poor

Defence solicitor David Sutherland told the court that his client has previous convictions for similar offences dating back to June 2021.

He added that he accepted that there were concerns highlighted about his client’s “lack of candour” regarding his offences within the social work report.

“The options today are that either Mr Rae goes to prison or he’s given a further chance to carry out community-based work,” Mr Sutherland said.

“It would be required to be a lengthy order but hopefully that would lead to a reduction in further offending.”

But Sheriff Graham Buchanan noted Rae’s previous record for offending and the fact that his “attitude” towards his existing order “has been poor”.

“I take the view that the only appropriate disposal is a period of imprisonment,” he added.

Sheriff Buchanan sentenced Rae, of Farquhar Road, Aberdeen, to eight months in prison.

He also placed Rae on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

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A photographer accused of sex offences involving 12 women has been found guilty of five of the charges at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

Simon ‘Sid’ Scott, 44, stood accused of a catalogue of sexual assault and indecent behaviour charges – involving women aged between 16 and 20 – the crimes taking place during photo shoots in Aberdeen and Glasgow.

A lengthy police investigation into Scott’s crimes involved officers sifting through thousands of his photographs – 150,000 of which were found to contain eroticism or nudity.

Scott’s lawyer previously claimed his client was the victim of a “witch-hunt”.

A jury of nine women and six men took just under six hours to find the professional photographer guilty by majority of five charges.

Not proven verdicts were returned to the remaining seven charges.

Scott, of Sunnyside Road, Aberdeen, sat motionless as the verdicts were read out.

Fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar had urged jurors to convict Scott, describing him as a “manipulative”, “opportunistic” and “predatory” sex offender.

She added: “The Crown’s position is that there is an underlying theme of exploiting situations often in a wholly calculating way.”

His defence counsel advocate David Taylor had asked that bail should be continued and said: “This is clearly serious and a custodial disposal may still be at the forefront of the court’s mind”.

Sheriff Morag McLaughlin made Scott subject to the sex offenders register and deferred sentence until September 1 in order for a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment to be carried out.

The 44-year-old was released on bail.

Scott was found guilty of the following charges:

• Sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman during a Christmas Eve photo-shoot at City Dance Moves, Aberdeen, in 2015
• Sexually assaulting a 20-year-old woman between 2015 to 2016, at the Jurys Inn Hotel in Aberdeen.
• Sexually assaulting a 19-year-old girl during a photo-shoot in a bedroom at the CitizenM hotel, in Glasgow’s Renfrew Street, in December 2015
• Sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in her Aberdeen home in April 2016
• Sexually assaulting a 17-year-old schoolgirl at Glasgow’s CitizenM Hotel in February 2017.

Description

A convicted sex offender from Aberdeen broke the law again on the day he was released from prison — by setting up a TikTok account.

Mark Innes, 31, had been sentenced at the city’s sheriff court in July, 2020, for four offences. Two related to sexual communication with a child while two others were revenge porn crimes.

Innes — never previously in trouble — was handed a nine-month prison term. He was also ordered, indefinitely, to comply with sex offender register requirements which barred him from setting up social media accounts.

Prosecutor Steven Ball told Carlisle Crown Court: “On July 1, 2023, Police Scotland advised local police that the defendant was staying with his girlfriend in the Carlisle area.”

Innes, said Mr Ball, usually lived in Aberdeen and was supervised there by offender managers. When local officers in Cumbria paid him a visit to check compliance, he surrendered a Samsung mobile phone.

“Officers became concerned that he had accessed a site — believed to be a child sex abuse site — via Google five times on June 12,” said Mr Ball. “He had also accessed the Telegram site that day.

“Further examination of his phone revealed that he had established a number of social media accounts. The first one, TikTok, was created on the day of his release from his recall to custody on May 9.”

Instagram had been set up on May 31 and one on another messaging app several weeks later.” The court heard Innes had been recalled to prison on licence in March, 2022, before being released on May 9 this year.

In interview, Innes admitted to using Telegram and a chat group on which adult pornography was being shared. He spoke of clicking on a link he was given with four indecent child images emerging.

“He claimed to have been disgusted with what he had seen and went back into the site as he wanted to find a way of anonymously reporting it,” said Mr Ball. “Out of the five times he went into the account, the last two times were in order to delete it.

“He couldn’t explain why he thought he would be accessing adult porn given the name of the site. He told the police that he had scrolled past some of the images but they just downloaded, by themselves. He maintained that this must have been accidental.

“He fully admitted to creating the social media accounts and not informing the police within three days of their creation; he was under the impression that he had given the police his email account details and he had used that to set up the accounts even thought they were under a user name that bore no relation to his own name.”

Innes admitted four counts of breaching notification requirements and three of making indecent images of children — including 22 classed in category A, the most serious.

After considering mitigation, Recorder Kate Bex KC imposed an immediate 16-month jail term.

Innes, latterly of Crawton Ness, Cove Bay, Aberdeen, remains subject to the notification requirements. He must also observe 19 additional conditions as part of a separate sexual harm prevention order which will run for the next 10 years.

Description

A man who was found guilty of sex offences involving a woman and a teenage girl has been placed on the sex offender’s register.

Kris Neish was found guilty during a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court of two sexual assaults over the course of more than four years.

The 33-year-old was convicted of touching one woman’s private parts and touching a girl, was between 14 and 15 years of age, on the leg in a sexual manner.

Neish, of Bayview Court, Aberdeen, was acquitted by the jury of a third sexual assault charge.

The court heard Neish, an IT technician, assaulted the youngest victim at a property in Aberdeen between January 2015 and January 2016.

Neish sexually assaulted his 18-year-old victim at the same address on June 15 2019.

During the sentencing hearing, Neish’s defence advocate Neil Shand told the court that his client still did not admit his guilt in relation to these offences.

“He does not accept he took part in these offences,” Mr Shand said.

As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff William Summer made Neish subject to a three-year community payback order with supervision and ordered him to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work.

He also made Neish subject to the sex offender’s register for three years and ordered him to take part in a sexual offender’s programme.

The sheriff additionally put a non-harassment order in place, meaning Neish cannot contact or approach any of his victims for five years.

Description

A vile Peterhead man has been found guilty of repeatedly raping his unconscious wife while she was on strong medication to help her sleep.

John Lindsay raped the mother of his children on various occasions at their Portlethen home while she was in a deep sleep and would not wake up.

Michelle Newman, who has waived her right to anonymity, began to suspect what was happening and the 38-year-old then confronted him.

But the brazen sex offender lied and claimed that nothing had happened.

Lindsay, 39, denied a charge of rape but a jury found him guilty after hearing disturbing evidence during a trial at the High Court in Aberdeen this week.

‘He’s behind bars, I’m going to be safe’

After the court case, Ms Newman bravely waived her right to anonymity to speak about her horrific ordeal with The Press and Journal.

When she heard that Lindsay had been found guilty, Ms Newman broke down in tears of relief, following a decade-long wait for justice.

“I didn’t expect a guilty verdict,” she said. “I’m over the moon. I just didn’t feel like I was believed. He gave me 10 years of hell since this all kicked off.

“Now I know he’s behind bars, I know I’m going to be safe again.”

Giving evidence during the trial, Ms Newman told advocate depute John Keenan she had been on various prescribed medications that made her “very sleepy” and feel “like a zombie” at the time.

Asked how deeply she would sleep, she replied: “I was unconscious. I wouldn’t wake up”.

She told the court, in harrowing detail, how she woke up one morning and found evidence that Lindsay had sex with her during the night while she was asleep.

She immediately phoned her husband and challenged him about it but he denied anything had happened.

Ms Newman described confiding in her dad about what had happened and how she felt “broken, very anxious, scared”.

Victim recorded attacker’s confession

Her father bought her a onesie which she then wore to bed every night, but would wake up to find the zip undone and the onesie partially or even fully off.

But Ms Newman still had doubts about what was happening and wanted to make absolutely certain.

One night, she deliberately didn’t take her medication and pretended to be asleep.

A tearful Ms Newman then described feeling Lindsay remove her onesie and start to rape her.

She said: “I jumped up and ran downstairs. I was very upset, confused and scared”.

Years later, Ms Newman managed to record Lindsay admitting that he’d raped her.

Eventually, with the help of her new partner, Ms Newman built up the courage to report the matter to the police.

‘A custodial sentence is a certainty’

Jurors took just over two-and-a-half hours to convict Lindsay, by a majority, of raping Ms Newman between October 2012 and March 2013.

He raped the woman while she was asleep and incapable of giving or withholding consent.

After the verdict was returned, Judge Summers told Lindsay: “You have been convicted of a very grave offence.

“You will understand, given the gravity of the offence, that, in due course, the imposition of a custodial sentence is a certainty.”

The judge deferred sentence on Lindsay until next month for reports and remanded him in custody in the meantime.

Lindsay, whose address had been given as Duthie Gardens, Peterhead, will be sentenced next month.

He has been placed on the sex offenders register in the meantime.

Description

A pervert who sent indecent pictures of himself to multiple teenage girls and asked one 14-year-old to meet him for sex has been branded a “menace to teenage women” and been handed more time behind bars.

Stewart Barclay, 22, has been told he “failed to understand how precarious his position was” when he didn’t carry out supervision and unpaid work for offences dating back to 2019.

He had a different order, relating to analogous offences from 2020, revoked at Aberdeen Sheriff Court two weeks ago and a 12-month sentence imposed instead.

Now his earlier cases have been reassessed and he’ll serve almost nine months in jail for ignoring his punishment from those, too.

He was in ‘precarious position’

Sheriff Robert McDonald told him: “I have no option but to revoke the order and your compliance with the CPO was extremely poor.

“You didn’t seem to understand the precarious position you were in. You are quite clearly a menace to young teenage women as far as I can see. A custodial sentence will be put in its place.”

Barclay previously admitted, at Banff Sheriff Court, to sending an image of his naked private parts via Snapchat to a then 13-year-old girl in June 2019.

The same month he sent sexual messages and multiple photos of his naked private parts through the same app to a different 13-year-old girl.

He also admitted to asking a then 14-year-old to send sexual images of herself and to meet him for sex between July 2019 and October 2020.

Multiple charges to his name

His further offending, in late October 2020, was dealt with at a higher level in Aberdeen and was of a similar nature.

Barclay sent graphic sexual images to the 14-year-old girl on several occasions.

He befriended her on Snapchat before sending several naked pictures of himself.

He also requested that she sent pictures in return, which the girl declined.

Barclay later admitted to police he wanted to “form a romantic relationship” with the child and was aware she was underage.

His community payback order for those offences was revoked last month when he was told that “were it not for your young age this would have been a longer sentence”.

His 12-month sentence imposed then has now been extended by Sheriff Robert McDonald.

He addressed Barclay, of Turriff, via videolink to the prison where he is serving time and told him he had no option but to revoke the community order and add the extra time to his sentence.

Description

A sex offender who stalked a medical student he believed was his wife is to be confined to a hospital and assessed for a mental disorder.

Jon Coltart terrified the University of Aberdeen student by sending her sinister messages about Satan and claiming they were married and in a sexual relationship.

The 40-year-old used a photograph of the woman as his Facebook profile picture and posted about her being “beautiful” and that he was “so proud of her”.

He even claimed on social media that the pair had been married between 2007 and 2010 when he was a surgeon in Glenrothes.

Coltart sent numerous unsolicited messages to her over a nine-month period despite having never actually met his victim.

After being held in custody for a year, awaiting a mental health assessment, he is to be confined to a medical facility for the required tests.

Stalker is a high-risk sex offender

Coltart was eventually arrested after turning up at the Foresterhill medical campus in a highly excited state, saying he wanted to pay the woman a “surprise visit”.

Appearing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on April 21 last year, Coltart pleaded guilty to causing the woman to suffer fear and alarm between June 19 2021 and March 24 2022.

He has previous convictions for sexual offences dating back to 2011 and was described by Police Scotland as a high-risk sex offender.

On Friday, the court decided that Coltart must undergo an assessment during a period of hospital detention to determine if he suffers from a mental disorder.

The assessment will also consider whether he poses a risk to himself or the public before he will be sentenced by a sheriff.

Fiscal depute Alan Townsend told the court at the first hearing that Coltart’s victim received a notification to her email account alerting her to a message from him.

“The subject heading was ‘marriage’ and the message itself said ‘Hi xxxx00xx’.

“When she got home, she saw she had three messages from the accused with the subject heading ‘so proud of you’ and the message read ‘congratulations on all the new hospitals in Scotland’ and ‘well done, beautiful. So happy and proud of you’.”

Mr Townsend said Coltart sent the woman a further message, reading, “I’m all yours”, which alarmed her.

He added: “She was concerned that he was obsessed with her and that the behaviour might escalate from online to try and meet her in person, so she reported the matter to police.”

Coltart then posted a Facebook message stating the pair were married in 2007 and that they were living together and in a sexual relationship.

He also used her LinkedIn social media profile picture as his Facebook profile picture.

The tone of Coltart’s messages escalated around June 19 2021, when he mentioned “suicide”, “fire” and “Satan”.

Coltart appeared at woman’s workplace

On March 24 last year, Coltart approached a receptionist at The Suttie Centre within the Aberdeen hospital campus “acting hyper” and demanded to speak to the student, claiming that she was his ex-wife.

He told the receptionist it was a “surprise visit”.

Mr Townsend said: “The receptionist felt that he was up to no good and notified security”.

Coltart then left but later appeared at the security desk of the Polwarth Building at the site and again demanded to “speak with his wife”.

The woman was notified that the man had turned up and was claiming to be her husband and she then contacted the police.

Coltart wasn’t traced but CCTV footage from the building was seized and a couple of days later he was arrested at his home in Glenrothes.

Coltart had delusional, confused thoughts

Representing himself at each of his court appearances, Coltart often displayed delusional, confused thoughts.

He once claimed that he couldn’t have been responsible for any of his crimes because he and his “wife” were “both living in Chicago” at the time.

It was established by Sheriff Andrew Miller, who personally intervened in the case, that Coltart believed he was living with his wife and the TV programme character Dr House.

At the time, Sheriff Miller described a wait for a suitable hospital bed for Coltart as “very unfortunate”.

Now, a new decision by Sheriff Sean Lynch will see Coltart confined to a medical facility as part of an interim compulsion order to find out if he suffers from a genuine mental disorder.

The conclusion of the assessment will determine whether Coltart can serve a period of imprisonment or requires further psychiatric care.