Man who tied rape victim to a tree after assault is jailed

By JOHN ROBERTSON
Published on 15/10/2012 14:21

A man who raped a teenager and left her tied to a tree has been sentenced to seven years’ detention.

Leon Pedley, 20, carried out the attack in Stranraer, Wigtownshire, after stuffing one of the 17-year-old victim’s socks into her mouth to stop her screaming.

A judge said a significant sentence had to be imposed for “an offence of this magnitude”, even allowing for Pedley’s age and lack of serious criminal record.

“The assault took place over a prolonged period of time and involved a degree of both coercion and violence,” said Lord Brailsford at the High Court in Edinburgh.

At an earlier trial, Pedley claimed the teenager had consented to sex, but he was found guilty by a jury of raping her on 13 March in woodland near Approach Road, Stranraer.

The jury heard that Pedley grabbed the girl by the throat and punched her. He forced a sock into her mouth and bound her hands.

“I kept trying to tell him to stop, but I could not really speak,” she said.

Pedley freed the girl and said he was sorry, claiming he had not wanted to do it but she had “made him”. Then, he tied her to a tree and said he was going to the toilet, but he did not return.

“I started screaming. I knew he was not coming back. He had just left me there. I sat there and kept crying and hoping someone would help me.”

She managed to free herself and reached a path in the woods where she met a friend and the alarm was raised.