Andrew Anderson 40

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A child sex attacker who attempted to rape a 15-year-old girl before she managed to escape his clutches has been handed a lifelong restriction order after being described as a "considerable threat" to women and children.

Andrew Anderson, 40, was previously found guilty of sexually assaulting the teen with intent to rape. And at the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday, October 3, he was jailed for a minimum of three years as part of the order, after being deemed a risk to the public.

The court heard how he preyed on the girl one evening in Kilmarnock town centre. Prosecutors told how he repeatedly asked to kiss her, told her to lie on the ground, lay beside her, placed his hand inside her lower clothing, pulled her towards him, repeatedly requested that she have sexual intercourse with him, and sexually assaulted her.

When sentencing, Lord Matthews said: "It was only with great presence of mind that she managed to trick you and escape from your clutches before alerting police officers who were patrolling nearby."

It comes after Anderson was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl, for which he was jailed for six years in 2006. When he was found guilty of raping two other women and indecently assaulting a third at houses in Cumnock and Kilmarnock, he was placed on an Order for Lifelong Restriction at the High Court in Glasgow in 2018.

The thug was jailed for a minimum of five years and he was warned he might never be released. However, the conviction was quashed in 2019 after the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh ruled that a legal rule on corroboration which is used in sex cases, known as the Moorov doctrine, was wrongly applied.

Sources said Anderson, who previously claimed to have children with “nine or 10 different women”, was then trying to sue prosecutors for the harm caused while he was wrongly imprisoned but lawyers reportedly refused to take on his case.

He claimed that during the period he spent behind bars, his relationship with his partner suffered, possessions – including a PlayStation and television – vanished and he was unable to attend the funerals of loved ones.

A woman involved in the case previously told how she was "disgusted" that he was pursuing compensation. It's unknown whether he took legal action any further but Anderson has been in custody since November 2022. Due to another prison term during that stint in custody, Anderson's latest sentence runs from November 23, 2023.

Lord Matthews described him as a "persistent offender" as he went through his lengthy record. The judge added: "I ordered a Risk Assessment Report and can safely say that it is the most pessimistic I have ever read. You represent a considerable threat to vulnerable women, female adolescents and female children.

"In the circumstances the only way I can properly protect the public is by imposing on you an Order for Lifelong Restriction. In doing so I have to set a period of time, the punishment part of your sentence, which must pass before you can apply for parole.

"Whether you are successful in any such application will be a matter for others to decide. This is not a sentence of imprisonment for three years and you will only be released when it is considered safe to do so."

Anderson was also made subject to the Sex Offenders' Register for an indefinite period and Scottish Ministers will be informed of his conviction.