SENTENCING STATEMENTS

Please be aware this statement contains graphic description of sexual assault

On sentencing Judge Pattison made the following remarks in court:

"I have listened carefully to all that your senior counsel has said on your behalf today – I have given careful consideration to Mr Duguid’s helpful plea together with the evidence the jury accepted at trial, the social work report with risk assessment, your record of previous offending and an impact statement submitted on behalf of one of the complainers.

You were convicted by the jury of charges one, two, three and four on the indictment – variously of raping the first complainer, sexually assaulting her and thereafter sexually assaulting and digitally penetrating the vagina of the second complainer and then of raping the third complainer.

The first complainer was your partner. You had a sexual relationship but she had specifically asked you not to ejaculate inside her. She was very clear about it. Despite this on two occasions the jury found that having engaged initially in consensual sex that you deliberately ejaculated inside her against her express wishes. She did not consent to the penetration continuing to ejaculation and this clearly amounted to the crime of rape. The other complainers were women you met online, both had vulnerabilities. You were convicted of the sexual assault of the second complainer by attempting to remove her lower clothing and placing your hands under her lower clothing while she was asleep and by seizing her arms and sexually penetrating her with your fingers without her consent. You subsequently met the third complainer online through Facebook and arranged to meet her. On that first meeting she became very intoxicated and the jury found that you went back to her home with her and raped her while she was in that state.

In her impact statement the second complainer speaks to having suffered trauma and anxiety as a result of your offending. Her mental health has suffered greatly and she requires support from specialist agencies. Her sleep has been affected. She feels constantly on edge and has suffered periods of intense fear and stress.

The social work report suggests that you are in some ways blaming your victims for the offences. Your senior counsel clarified today that you do in fact accept responsibility; but let it be clear that the jury concluded that you are to blame. None of this was their fault.

The report assesses that there is a high risk of you committing further sexual crimes and concludes that you are in the high range of prospective sexual reoffending. The reporter is of the opinion that an extended sentence is appropriate to protect the public and that you present a significant risk to females, in particular intimate partners.

I have assessed your culpability as high and the harm you caused as clearly significant and potentially lifelong for the three complainers. There is no real mitigation. Your disinhibition through the abuse of alcohol is neither a defence nor an excuse. Your offending is aggravated by its persistence and that it was perpetrated against three separate women.

Given the seriousness of your offending a lengthy custodial sentence is inevitable.

The focus of sentencing is punishment and deterrence and rehabilitation where possible – this will be facilitated in part by the extended licence period.

The case was presented by the Crown as a course of conduct and it seems clear that the jury accepted that you engaged in a course of rape and sexual assault and I will reflect that in sentencing by imposing an in cumulo sentence on the indictment as a whole as opposed to individual sentences on each charge. An extended sentence is appropriate given the risk assessment before me.

I will impose an extended sentence of 12 years on the indictment in cumulo.

This sentence has two parts – a custodial period of 9 years of which 6 months is attributable to the statutory aggravations on charges one and two, that is 3 months on each charge. This custodial part will be backdated to the date of your remand which was 4 July 2025 .

This custodial part will be followed by an extension period of 3 years to protect the public and to help you reintegrate into society with supervision post custody. The conditions of your licence will be fixed by Scottish Ministers. If during the extension period you fail to comply with the conditions of your licence, it may be revoked and you may be returned to custody for a further period in respect of this indictment. 

For legal reasons I require to explain that had I been imposing individual sentences on the charges they would have been:

5 year’s imprisonment on charge 1; 1 year’s imprisonment on charge 2; 3 years on charge 3;

6 years on charge 4;

This would have been 15 years and disproportionate overall with due regard to the totality principle; the in cumulo sentence I impose means that you will serve 9 years in custody followed by the extended licence period.

I will also make non harassment orders in terms of 234A of the Criminal Procedure Scotland Act 1995: these are made in relation to each of the complainers.

The orders will state that you must not approach or contact either of them or attempt to approach or contact them for an indefinite period. Any breach will result in your arrest and potentially further additional periods of imprisonment.

I have previously directed the clerk of court to intimate details of your convictions to the Scottish Ministers in terms of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007.

In terms of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, I am required to state again that you have been convicted of sexual offences to which Part 2 of that Act applies.

You will be subject to the notification requirements contained in the Act for an indefinite period.

The Court has certified those facts and the Clerk of Court will shortly give you a copy of that certificate together with a notice which gives further details of the notification requirements with which you must comply.