Dunblane killings can’t be blamed for sex attack by survivor

Ryan Liddell, 21, violently assaulted a 76-year-old woman, intent on raping her.

But a judge was told he had shown hostile traits from a very early age, before being shot by gunman Thomas Hamilton on 13 March, 1996.

A psychiatrist said that, surprising as it might seem, Liddell did not appear to have been affected significantly by the massacre.

Dr Rajan Darjee said: “If anything, after the Dunblane shooting, because of the resources that went into the school and the change in class size, there seems to have been an improvement in his functioning immediately after the shooting, albeit he did experience some nightmares and stress.

“You cannot underestimate the resilience of young children.”

Last June, Liddell, of Dunblane, was convicted of assaulting the woman with intent to rape her and to the danger of her life. He had barged into her flat in Dunblane and tore off her clothes, saying he wanted sex.

Judge Lord Uist is considering whether to impose an order for lifelong restriction, which would allow Liddell to be detained indefinitely and, if released, supervised for the rest of his life.

Liddell was only five when shot in the arm and chest by Hamilton, who stormed into his P1 gym class at Dunblane Primary School in March 1996 and murdered 16 of his classmates and his teacher, Gwen Mayor.

Fifteen other children, including Liddell, another teacher, and a classroom assistant, survived. As Liddell was being pulled bleeding from the gym, he asked his mother: “Mummy, am I going to die?”

The trial heard that in adulthood, Liddell was more active at night than during the day and had been walking the streets of Dunblane at 4am on 14 June, 2010, when he spotted his victim’s door ajar and entered.

He pretended he was her carer and there to give her a shower, before punching her and kicking her in the head as she lay on the ground. He fled when neighbours, alerted by muffled screams, ran downstairs to find the woman lying in her living room in a pool of blood. In police interviews, she said she thought she was going to die, and that a man who looked like the devil had wanted to have sex with her.

Dr Darjee, who prepared a risk assessment, told the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday Liddell had taken to wandering at night after drinking to excess, and falling asleep in sheds and garages. Once, he awoke in bed beside an 83-year-old man after breaking into his home.

Dr Darjee said Liddell did not feel the atrocity caused him any long-term problems.

He realised he had had behavioural problems from about the age of two, suffered restlessness, was impulsive and reckless, and had been aggressive to other children. He was also expelled from nursery.

The hearing continues.