Anger as Da Vinci rapist returns to Midlothian

Residents took to the streets last night amid angry scenes as word spread that the 34-year-old, who brutally raped a student at Rosslyn Chapel in 2005, was back in the area just months after being driven out.

Soon after it emerged Greens – one of scotland’s most dangerous sex offenders – had moved into a rural cottage on the outskirts of Bonnyrigg, locals began demanding his removal and accused the authorities of using the property, which was previously occupied by child sex offender William Dunsmore, as “a dumping ground for sexual predators”.

A crowd of up to 30 people unfurled banners reading “Beast” and “Da Vinci Rapist” while passing motorists honked their horns in support.

Police and council leaders sought to reassure residents and said they had no choice but to house the sex attacker in Midlothian, but a Tory MSP said the move lacked “common sense”.

The address where he is now living is just 15 minutes’ drive from the scene of the rape.

One local mum, who asked not to be named, said police, who have supplied residents with emergency contact numbers, had told her Greens was still considered a danger to women.

She said: “A policeman came and told me that Greens was living there but to have no fear as he wasn’t a danger to my kids, just me. He then told me I could speak with Greens if I wanted but he warned against entering his house or any other enclosed space with him.

“We’ve gone from one extreme to another, first we had a paedophile, now we have a rapist. It’s outrageous. That house, it seems, is a dumping ground for sexual predators.”

Greens’ new home is an unassuming end-of-row property on a busy main road popular with walkers and joggers. It has a garden which backs on to dense woodland.

Suspicions over his arrival were raised when workmen began erecting CCTV cameras and security lights on the front, rear and side of the property.

A 33-year-old old female neighbour said: “I saw the door being changed from glass panel to just a spyhole and immediately knew something was up.

“I’m quite scared about it. Dunsmore was old and quite frail but Greens is young and mobile.” Greens, jailed for the rape of a 19-year-old Dutch student, has never admitted his crime. He was drunk and on drugs when he attacked the woman near Rosslyn Chapel.

The woman was so badly injured that a motorist who saw her standing by the side of the road thought she had been hit by a car.

Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont MSP said Greens should not have been moved back to Midlothian.

He said: “You would think lessons had been learned from last time. The people made it perfectly clear they did not want the perpetrator of such a vile and high-profile crime back in the community in which he committed it. He has to be housed somewhere, but common sense should dictate Midlothian is not the best place.”

Midlothian Labour councillor Margot Russell said: “It is a difficult situation wherever he goes. All neighbours have been notified about this and we will continue to keep them abreast of everything.”

At the request of the police the Evening News has taken the decision not to reveal the exact address where Greens is being housed, even though it is widely known locally.