Description
A serial sex offender and convicted killer was able to carry out a series of rapes after a sheriff ruled he was not a danger to the public.
Mohammed Akram, 64, was the first offender to get his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) lifted which meant he was no longer under constant police supervision.
But even as Sheriff Nigel Morrison freed him from the order, Akram had already began abusing his latest victim and continued to rape her for another five years after the controversial decision.
He is now facing a lengthy jail sentence after being convicted of the new attacks at the High Court in Glasgow last month.
But the case has raised questions over the controversial decision made by the Sheriff against advice from police and a pyschologist.
Sandy Brindley, Chief Executive, Rape Crisis Scotland: “The criminal justice system should work to protect survivors, and members of the community. Whenever decisions about sentences or restrictions for convicted perpetrators are made, a sense of justice for the survivor should never be lost.”
Conditions of Akram’s SOPO meant him being under constant supervision and he also had to inform a police handler of every contact he had with women who were not relatives, including new relationships.
He was handed the SOPO after being convicted of a serious sexual assault on a 16-year-old girl in 2003.
Police had applied for it in April 2014 after Akram was identified as a future risk to women.
During the 2017 hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, psychologist Dr Ewan Lundie said the risk of Akram reoffending was high - based on his past behaviour.
But Sheriff Morrison dismissed the concerns of Police Scotland in his judgement and even ordered the force to pay court costs.
Last month Akram was convicted of repeatedly raping one woman between December 2010 and March 1 2022.
The attacks happened at a flat in Newhaven, Edinburgh and Pollokshields, Glasgow.
Akram was also found guilty of raping the same woman in Edinburgh in March 2021 and of repeated assaults between 1995 and 2000 in Glasgow and Clackmannan.
Jurors heard she was not his only victim.
He also raped a vulnerable girl at a flat in Stirling in January 1997. The physical violence included him headbutting and spitting on her, hurling plates of food as well as brandishing a knife.
The court heard if Akram did not get what he wanted, he “would go mental”. Sexual contact was also “on his terms”.
Prosecutor Kath Harper said: “The Mohammed Akram described in this court is not one you recognise?”
He replied: “I thought I was fine.”
He also claimed the account given by the girl he raped in 1997 was “100 per cent” lies. She has since passed away. He claimed she had initiated sexual contact.
The prosecutor questioned why a “young upset and vulnerable girl” at the time would have done this.
Akram replied: “Why are you shocked? Is it because I am an older man now?”
He was also found guilty of five charges against a third female - three rapes, attempted murder and indecent assault - committed between June 1999 and October 2001 at addresses across Scotland including Aberdeen and Stirling.
Akram - who denied the accusations - did not appear from the cells to hear the verdicts at the High Court in Glasgow.
He is due to be sentenced later this month by trial judge Gillian Wade K.C.
Akram has a string of convictions for serious crimes stretching back 45 years.
He was locked up for five years in 1979 for the culpable homicide of a man behind a pub in Glenrothes, Fife.
In 2003, he was then handed an eight year sentence for the sexual assault of the teenage girl.
Akram was later released, but went on to be convicted in 2012 of abusing a four year-old girl.
But the conviction was overturned after the trial judge misdirected jurors.
Davy Thompson, Campaign Director for White Ribbon, which aims to end men’s violence against women, said: “Recent cases have once again raised the need for sexual offences at all levels to be taken seriously, for rigorous measures to be available to monitor offenders, and for infringements of court orders to be addressed.”
Scottish Conservative deputy justice spokesperson Sharon Dowey MSP said: “The relentless weakening of the justice system means dangerous criminals like this are all too often free to offend again.
“Our cash-strapped police force must be given the resources they need in order to ensure offenders like this can be robustly monitored and properly punished for their appalling crimes.”
The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, which represents high court judges, said: “We do not comment on live or individual cases.”
Police Scotland declined to comment on Akram’s latest conviction and Sheriff Morrison, who has now retired, also declined to comment.