SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing Judge Young made the following remarks in court:

"Derek McNee, you have pleaded guilty to three offences. Two relate to former partners. The third is a firearms offence.

I start with the most serious charge. This is charge three, which involves the second complainer. This involves a long list of sexual assaults carried out on repeated occasions over a four month period.

The narrative relates that you and the complainer regularly took controlled drugs. As a result, the complainer often fell asleep or became unconscious.

The acts set out in the charge took place when the complainer was affected by these intoxicants. As a result, she was incapable of giving consent.

The assaults include sexual penetration of various forms. There was penile penetration of the mouth, of the vagina, and of the anus. These amount to rape.

The Crown narrative states that the complainer agreed that you could do sexual things to her while she was asleep. She also said that you could record what you did when she was asleep. You sent videos to her showing some of what you did to her while she was not conscious. You instructed her to delete these.

The narrative also records that the complainer recorded herself performing sexual acts on you while you were unconscious.

As you recognise, the law is that there can be no free agreement given in advance for an act that takes place when the complainer is incapable of giving consent.

This criminal behaviour came to light when the police seized your mobile phone in connection with other matters. Police found four of these videos on your phone.

The acts that are shown in the videos and narrated in the charge amount to rape and to sexual assault.

The videos are described in detail. The longest lasted 35 minutes. The videos show penile-vaginal penetration. However, they also include many features that go beyond simple penile vaginal sexual intercourse. These acts are relevant to assessing your attitude to the complainer at a time when she was so far affected by drugs that she was unable to give or withhold consent. These include the following. You called her derogatory names. You seized her neck and pushed her face into the mattress. You spat on her face. You spat on her body. You spat into her mouth. You slapped her. You rubbed your penis and testicles on her face. You penetrated her mouth and vagina with a sex toy. You penetrated her mouth with your penis, and her anus with your penis.

Much of the time the complainer was clearly not conscious. In one video, she was seen to convulse from the effects of the drugs. At other times the complainer was conscious during some or all of the filming although she was clearly intoxicated. At these times there was some speech. You said: 'Don't fucking move', ‘don't wriggle about, stay fucking still'. You tell her to ‘shut up’ and that she would get gagged. You asked at one point if she was asleep.

At one stage she objected to your actions. You continued assaulting her and called her ‘useless’ and ‘fuck meat'. You later called her a ‘slut’.

In one video, when the complainer was conscious, you asked her what was going to happen to her. She replied: 'get raped'. Shortly afterwards you said to her: ‘you're getting raped'. She said: 'I'm so drunk'. You replied: 'Shut the fuck up'. You continued to assault her while she fell asleep.

The courts are well aware of the effect of offending against a partner in a domestic relationship. In that situation the complainer may not appreciate at the time of the full extent of, and impact on them, of their partner's behaviour. They may not recognise themselves as being abused at the time. They may struggle to remove themselves from the relationship. They may have conflicting emotions towards their abuser.

The complainer has provided two victim impact statements. I have received submissions about certain matters addressed in the statements. I have had regard to the statements only insofar as they are relevant to the plea that was accepted.

The complainer described herself as feeling 'trauma-bonded' to you at the time. She described seeking comfort from her abuser. I will not narrate here in court the details of her statements. However, there can be no doubt that the complainer describes her misery at the time of these events. She has also described very fully severe psychological and practical consequences of these events. Some of these continue to affect her life to a significant extent to this day.

As I have stated, the narrative agrees that the complainer carried out sexual acts on you while you were not conscious. She also stated that she did not object at the time to certain acts taking place when she was unconscious. I emphasise that this does not neutralise the legal protection that the law provides. It is abundantly clear in this case that your actions caused harm to the complainer. These acts comprise sexual offending and rape. You will be sentenced on that basis.

Turning to charge 1 and the first complainer, the charge is quite different. Despite substantial deletion you pleaded guilty to abusive behaviour extending well over four years. This involved derogatory remarks and insults, shouting and provocation. At this time, you were her partner. She relied on you for support. You caused significant distress to your victim over a long period of time.

After the end of the relationship, you initially remained in contact due to shared parenting. However, the complainer became anxious and upset and tried to block contact. You continued with persistent, unwanted and distressing contact. 

The first complainer has also provided an impact statement. She describes effects of your offending both in the past and ongoing to the present. These include: loss of self confidence, fear, anger and helplessness. She remains hypervigilant and anxious

Finally, charge 5 involves possession of a stun gun. It was found under the steering wheel of your car when you were stopped by police. It was charged up. It was not disguised as another object.

You have six previous convictions. Two of these are significant, because they have domestic aggravations. These relate to a third former partner. One was a bail breach and the other was for domestic abuse. Both were sentenced on the same day. The sentence included a lengthy restriction of liberty order. A non-harrassment order was also imposed.  

I have seen a Justice Social Work Report. This records that you do not recognise, at least in full, the culpable nature of your behaviour towards either complainer. You state that you were not abusive to the first complainer. You say that she made a malicious complaint seeking to affect custody of your child.

You say that your relationship with the second complainer was toxic. You stated that the filmed actions were to facilitate and demonstrate your attempts to get her pregnant at her request. It is plain that the actions described go far beyond intercourse for the purposes of conception.

You report traumatic incidents from your family life which caused PTSD. You describe a mental breakdown and loss of employment. You report significant substance abuse as a result. However, you say that you are now drug free in prison, and spend time positively.

The author of the report notes a pattern of domestic offending and considers the likelihood of further domestic offending without intervention. Although, you are recorded as being at only average risk of sexual reconviction, there are significant features that point towards a risk of future domestic abuse. These are set out in detail in the report. They include features of your increasingly serious offending. These also include risk factors relevant to you, including: substance abuse problems, unresolved trauma, and your behaviour in intimate relationships, together with distorted thinking about your abusive behaviour.

The reporter concludes that due to the risk you pose on liberation, a lengthy period of post-custody supervision is required.

I have paid close attention to everything said in mitigation on your behalf. Your counsel emphasised that the terms of the plea and of the narrative were discussed with you. He states that you accept the legal basis of your guilt. Any comments to the contrary in the report should be seen as minimisation rather than outright denial. He pointed to scope for rehabilitation.

I turn now to sentence. I impose orders prohibiting any communication or contact with either complainer. These will be indefinite.

I state first the sentences I would have imposed if you had not pleaded guilty. Looking first at charge 3, in terms of culpability I note that there was repeated offending, significant planning, and recording the incident. In terms of harm, I have regard to the level of psychological harm and the prolonged nature of some of the incidents.

If you had not pleaded guilty, I would have imposed an extended sentence. I do consider that the relevant level of risk to public safety has been made out to justify supervision after release. You will be placed under licence conditions set by the Scottish Ministers. If you breach these conditions you may be brought back to court and further measures imposed.

 The total sentence I would have imposed would have been for 10 years.

Of that, the custodial part would have been eight and a half years of which 6 months is due to the domestic aggravation. Thereafter there would be an 18 month extension period.

For charge 1, if I had imposed a custodial sentence, it would have been a six-month custodial sentence. I would not impose any uplift for the aggravation.

For charge 5, if I had imposed a custodial sentence, I would have imposed four months custody.

As these offences relate to different matters, they will be consecutive.

This was a plea at a preliminary hearing. I will therefore reduce the sentences. For charge 1, I impose four and a half months. For charge 3, the custodial part is reduced to 76 and a half months. For charge 5, the sentence is 3 months. That is a total of custodial period of 84 months, or seven years. To that is added the extended period of 18 months. That brings the total sentence, including the extension, to 102 months or eight and a half years. The sex offender notification period is therefore indefinite.

The sentence will be backdated to the date of your remand. This was 31 December 2025."

2 November 2026