Doctor locked up for rape and sex abuse

A doctor who carried out a catalogue of rape and abuse against two women was detained at a high security psychiatric hospital under a court order today.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard Michael Lever carried out a catalogue of abuse.  Picture: Bill HenryThe High Court in Edinburgh heard Michael Lever carried out a catalogue of abuse.  Picture: Bill Henry
The High Court in Edinburgh heard Michael Lever carried out a catalogue of abuse. Picture: Bill Henry

During an earlier trial one of Michael Lever’s victims had referred to him as “a monster” in her evidence.

Lever compelled one woman to take drugs including amyl nitrate, or poppers, and the aphrodisiac Spanish Fly.

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One victim told the High Court in Edinburgh that Lever had been “charming” when she first met him.

She said the drug GHB, sometimes known as liquid ecstasy, was put in her drink and she was told to consume it.

“When I woke up it was the next day. I was naked, propped up against a sofa and I had sick all over me,” she told Lever’s trial.

“When I came round there was pornographic material in the DVD player and I was sore,” she said. She said it was obvious that sex had taken place.

Lever also compelled her to procure the services of a female prostitute.

Another woman, who was told at one stage by Lever that he was the head of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, said he told her that if she did not do what he wanted he would have to kill her. She said Lever was “deadly serious” when he made the threat.

The 45-year-old said: “Looking back now it was like I was being groomed like a teenage girl.”

Lever, 46, had denied raping the women but was earlier unanimously convicted of the offences by a jury.

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An allegation that Lever had carried out a sex act on a dog in the presence of one victim and tried to compel her to take part was deleted.

One woman was assaulted by him at various addresses including houses in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The other victim was raped at a house in Ayr.

The court heard that Lever was a qualified doctor but had not practised since 2004, and was in the process of taking up a post at a hospital in Ayr when he was detained in 2013.

One woman was compelled by him to take part in sex acts in front of a webcam and was handcuffed and tied.

One witness told the trial that she found one of the victims in a wardrobe naked with her arms tied, looking badly bruised and crying.

Lever has been held at the State Hospital at Carstairs and a judge made an interim compulsion order today authorising his continued detention there.

Lord Uist also ordered at the High Court in Edinburgh that he be provided with up to date psychiatric reports on Lever for a further hearing in December.

Defence counsel Gary Allan QC said reports from two psychiatrists had been received. He said both took the view that further assessment was necessary in Lever’s case within Carstairs where continuing treatment will be available to him.

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Mr Allan said: “The psychiatrists each opine that it would be appropriate that an interim compulsion order be made at this stage to allow the assessment which they consider necessary, both in the interests of the health of the accused and the public interest, to be carried out in the most appropriate circumstances.”

Lever was earlier placed on the sex offenders’ register.

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