Victim of serial sex attacker Robert Clyde speaks out

Picture of Linda Duke - who was sexually assaulted by Robert Clyde and now feels that it is unfair that she is continuing to struggle with the after effects of his abuse, while he is treated with compassion in a Marie curie hospice. Picture: Contributed

Linda Duke, who is originally from Edinburgh but lives in England, suffered ten years of horrific abuse at the hands of rapist Robert Clyde. The abuse started when she was just six.

The 49-year-old contacted The Scotsman after reading about the decision to release Clyde from Saughton prison into a Marie Curie Hospice in Edinburgh so he can receive treatment for a “brain illness”.

Clyde is originally from Ireland but was living in the Niddrie area of Edinburgh when he was caught by police in 2013, after repeatedly raping a woman over two days at his home. Police delved into his past and uncovered evidence that he began molesting four young girls over a 40-year period starting in 1970. They also discovered he assaulted two boys – one who was aged just four when the attacks began – for a period of 16 years.

Brave Linda has decided to forgo her victim’s right to anonymity as she feels so strongly that an injustice has been done and Clyde should “die in jail”.

She said: “My views on the first class treatment my abuser is getting at Marie Curie centre are that it’s despicable to me – he gets love and care every day while I am in turmoil. I fight every day with my mental health problems because of what that monster did to me. He abused me sexually, physically and psychologically from the age of six until 16. I was a child and didn’t know anything was wrong until I got older, then when I reported him 24 years ago I was labelled a liar.”

Linda said she turned to drugs to try and block out the horror of her ordeal but went into residential rehab when Clyde was eventually jailed. She has been clean for four years.

Her disability living allowance was recently ended and she has been refused a personal independence payment.

She added: “I cannot be around men I don’t know unless I’m with someone who I trust completely and I never leave my flat unless someone is with me and only if it’s down to the doctors or chemist which are right underneath my house.

“The thought of him getting first class treatment makes me sick and when I was told his bail was refused this made me happy knowing he couldn’t get near any young girls.

“But now he’s probably playing his illness up and loving the hospice. I fully believe that it’s horrible he can die in a place with dignity while I suffer every single day with what he done to me. He even told me if I told anyone I would be called a liar and that’s exactly what happened. He should die in jail.”