Latest news: Da Vinci Code rapist's wife granted divorce

Published on Wednesday 9 April 2008 16:08

THE wife of the notorious Da Vinci Code rapist has been granted a divorce from her husband.

Angela Greens, 27, ended her marriage to Robert Greens on the grounds that they have been separated for two years.

Greens, 30, has been in custody since May 2005 when he was arrested for the brutal rape of a Dutch student as she visited Rosslyn Chapel, Midlothian.

He was jailed for ten years at the High Court in Edinburgh in April 2006.

Greens did not contest the divorce action but sought regular contact with his four daughters, aged eight, six, four and two as part of the deal.

His wife objected, fearing she and her new partner would be harmed if Greens was granted contact.

After hearing evidence from both, Sheriff Mhairi Stephen turned down Greens' request, and said it was "neither in the interests of the children nor practicable" to make an order for them to have regular face-to-face or telephone contact with him.

Sheriff Stephen found the marriage had broken down irretrievably and granted the divorce.

While in prison, Greens has made verbally abusive telephone calls to his wife, who has since moved out of the family home and begun a new life in a secret location.

The couple married in Penicuik in November 2002 and lived together in Dalkeith until his arrest.

During their marriage, Greens had acted violently towards his wife in front of their daughters, assaulting her while she was pregnant with their third child and pushing her down a flight of stairs on another occasion.

He led his wife to believe he was innocent of the charges for six months before pleading guilty to assault to severe injury and danger of life and rape.

A judge later described it as "one of the worst cases of rape" ever dealt with at a High Court.

Greens' victim was a 19-year-old Dutch student who had gone to visit the chapel, which features in Dan Brown's best-selling book The Da Vinci Code, but found it was closed on May 15, 2005.

She was walking to a friend's house when Greens attacked her on the B7003 road through Roslin Glen.

He threw her down an embankment, dragged her along the ground, threatened her with a knife, asked her if she was a virgin and repeatedly beat her in the face to the danger of her life.

An appeal judge who saw photos of her facial injuries described them as "frankly horrific".

Greens, formerly of Eskview Road, Mayfield, Midlothian, had been drinking and smoking cannabis before subjecting the woman to the terrifying sexual assault and originally tried to blame his twin brother.

He tried to have his sentence reduced last October but two judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh rejected his bid.

His earliest release date is January 27, 2012.