Teenage rapist faceslifelong supervision after holiday attack

Published on Tuesday 8 December 2009 21:44

A TEENAGE holidaymaker who grabbed a woman off the street and raped her in the grounds of a hotel could become one of the youngest sex offenders in Scotland to be given lifelong supervision.

Iain McCarron, 16, of Glasgow, was visiting the East Lothian seaside town of North Berwick, and targeted the local woman, 18, after seeing her walking home alone.

The victim's screams for help were heard by residents who telephoned the police, and a man went to the scene and pulled McCarron off her.

McCarron faces the possibility of receiving an order for lifelong restriction (OLR) to protect the public. A judge said he wanted more background information on the youth before deciding the sentence to be imposed, and the case was continued until next month.

McCarron, of Kinfauns Drive, Drumchapel, Glasgow, who was 15 at the time, admitted assaulting and raping the woman on 21 July in the grounds of Blenheim House Hotel, North Berwick. He also pleaded guilty to assaulting a 15-year-old girl during the same week's holiday, by seizing her and pulling her into an alley.

His not guilty plea to a third charge of raping a woman, again in North Berwick, by having sex with her while she was asleep and under the influence of alcohol, was accepted by the Crown.

The advocate-depute, Andrew Stewart, QC, said McCarron was a first offender. He was on holiday with his parents and brother.

On the night of the attack, the victim had been out with friends and had only one bottle of beer. McCarron had been at a party at a house in the town. The woman saw him coming towards her as she walked home about 12:30am, and he asked for a cigarette. She said she did not have one, and carried on.

"She heard the accused running towards her. She turned and he pushed her, causing her to fall backwards against a wall. She started to scream. He said, 'Shut up or I will stab you.' He placed his hand over her mouth," said Mr Stewart.

A couple in a nearby flat heard screams and saw the attack and called the police. McCarron marched the woman, with her arm held up her back, into the car park of the hotel and out of view of the flat. He dragged her into an alleyway where he forced her to strip and raped her.

The man from the flat approached and he grabbed McCarron's arm and shouted at him to get off the woman. McCarron fled the scene.

Inquiries, including inspection of CCTV footage, led police to McCarron and he was detained at his home the following week.

Mr Stewart suggested to the judge, Lord Malcolm, that it might be a suitable case for an OLR. He said McCarron had been examined by a psychiatrist who had provided information about him.

Under an OLR, an offender is sentenced to a minimum period in custody and thereafter is not released until the parole board consider it safe. The person continues to be supervised for the rest of his life, and to be liable to be recalled to custody.

Lord Malcolm said he would consider background reports on McCarron before deciding whether to obtain a full risk assessment, of the type required for an OLR.