Convicted rapist jailed for second sex attack

A CONVICTED rapist who attacked a second woman after he was released from prison has been given a life sentence.

John Daly attacked the woman in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, on 9 April last year after he was freed on licence for raping a teenager in 2004.

After subjecting his victim to the ordeal, Daly told her: "I can't believe I have done this again. I'm just out of jail for five years for doing that. I am sick in the head."

At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, judge Lady Dorrian imposed an order for lifelong restriction under which Daly, now 24, can be kept in custody until the parole board deem that he can be released. She ordered him to spend a minimum of seven years behind bars.

Daly's was the first case to be dealt with in the wake of a landmark legal ruling from the Appeal Court in Edinburgh. Senior judges examining the cases of convicted rapist Robert Foye and jailed paedophile Morris Petch on Tuesday issued fresh guidance on the approach judges should take when setting the minimum jail terms for people serving certain types of life sentence.

Daly admitted a charge of rape at a previous court hearing.

On that occasion, the court heard the 26-year-old victim had been in Glasgow shopping for an outfit for her sister's wedding.

Later on that night, she and her cousin met Daly at a chip shop in George Street and he invited them back to his Rutherglen flat. They believed a party would be taking place.

During the evening, Daly told the woman he had served five years in jail for stabbing someone. She felt uncomfortable and wanted to go home.

However, before she was able to leave, Daly pounced on her and subjected her to the brutal sex attack.

During the prolonged assault, he punched her on the head repeatedly and squeezed her neck so hard that she was unable to breathe.

Daly was jailed for seven years and three months in January 2005 after admitting raping a teenage girl in Lanarkshire.