Edward Lochrie 41

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A rape survivor from Glasgow has told how she is living a life sentence of her own after a colleague was jailed for seven years for attacking her.

Sarah, who asked only to be identified by her first name, was raped by Edward Lochrie after leaving a works leaving party. The married 40-year-old sexually assaulted her after refusing to leave her home before trying to cover his tracks in a series of messages sent to the victim and her colleagues.

After Lochrie was jailed last week Sarah said she would remain traumatised for life, but urged other women to seek justice. She told the Daily Record: “Seven years isn’t the life sentence he has given me, but it’s a strong powerful second.

“The judge identified his behaviour as predatory, that he manipulated, that he has shown no empathy or remorse for his actions. To have the severity of what happened to me acknowledged goes some way to concluding this chapter.

“I can’t change what happened nor will I ever be able to forget but I can move forward knowing I did everything in my power to ensure truth prevailed. I urge victims of sexual assault to stand by their truth, trust the system and ensure you provide all you can when giving your statements.

“I just hope the last few years of my life, my journey, can give hope and strength to other survivors.”

Lochrie attacked his colleague on his leaving night out after she invited workmates back to her flat to call taxis in July 2021.

She said: “He was reasonably quiet and unassuming. He very much kept himself to himself. I never imagined he was a harmful person.

“At the end of the night he was the last person left and wouldn’t leave. I got very insistent and forceful and told him to get out.

“He intimated that he was going to leave, went to the door and pretended to put his shoes on and before I knew it he turned around again and raped me in my own home.”

The project manager then left Sarah's flat before trying to contact her via her work phone over the following days.

She said: “He didn’t have my personal number, but tried to reach me the next day via message on my work mobile, asking if I was still talking to him.

“The day after that he messaged again. As of the Monday he started trying to call me several times, which I still ignored. Then he started to reach out to other colleagues.

“He reached out to between five to 10 colleagues of ours to try and gauge information. He asked if there was any gossip going around about me and him.”

Traumatised, Sarah had sought help in the hours after her attack and found Archway, a specialist sexual assault referral centre based in Glasgow, and received support from Rape Crisis Scotland. She was able to attend the centre and have forensic testing done while she processed what had happened to her.

Lochrie was arrested weeks later. After more than two years he was found to have raped Sarah at a trail at the High Court in Glasgow.

Judge Lord Young jailed Lochrie for seven years at the High Court in Edinburgh last week.

Passing sentence, Lord Young said: “ While I accept that this rape was not pre-planned, it did involve predatory behaviour emerging once you realised that your victim lived alone and that you could manipulate the situation to be left alone with her.

“What is clear from the Criminal Justice Social Work Report is that you have shown no empathy for your victim and have no insight into your offending. You embarked on a process of victim blaming described...as a character assassination of your victim.”

Lochrie was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.