Dunblane survivor may face lifetime in prison for sex attack

Ryan Liddell, 21, was told by a judge that he had effectively ruined the pensioner’s life, because she had been robbed of her independence.

Lord Uist ruled that Liddell was a danger to the public and should be made subject to an order for lifelong restriction (OLR), under which he can be detained indefinitely.

Liddell had punched and kicked the pensioner, causing a fracture dislocation of the shoulder, which required surgery, and severe mental trauma.

• In full: Lord Uist’s statement upon sentencing Dunblane Ryan Liddell

“It is shocking a young man like you could have committed such a terrible crime on a vulnerable, elderly lady in her own home… where she was entitled to feel safe… in the middle of the night,” said Lord Uist.

“She has been in hospital or a nursing home since the attack and she is no longer able to live independently.

“In effect, you ruined the rest of her life by what you did to her.”

The judge said Liddell would have to serve a minimum of six years before he became even eligible for release.

“It does not follow that you will be released after six years. You will be released only when the parole board considers it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that you continue to be held in prison,” he added.

In March 1996, at the age of five, Liddell was shot in the arm and chest by Thomas Hamilton at Dunblane Primary School.

Sixteen of his classmates and his teacher, Gwen Mayor, were killed.

Liddell, from Dunblane, was 19 in June 2010 when he committed the offence against the woman, in her ground floor flat in the town.

He had been walking the streets at about 4am and noticed the victim’s door ajar.

Liddell pretended he was her carer and was there to give her a shower, before punching her repeatedly and kicking her on the head as she lay on the floor.

He dragged the injured woman to a bedroom, told her he wanted sex and stripped her.

Liddell was forced to flee when neighbours, alerted by muffled screams, ran downstairs and found the woman lying in a pool of blood.

Friends and family described the woman as friendly and outgoing before her ordeal, but she had “deteriorated dramatically both mentally and physically.”

A jury convicted Liddell of assaulting the woman to her severe injury and to danger of her life, with intent to rape her.

The defence counsel, Jamie Gilchrist, QC, said that Liddell had never tried to use the Dunblane shooting as an excuse for his behaviour.

A psychiatrist told the High Court in Edinburgh that Liddell had shown great resilience and that the shooting “was not particularly significant in forming the type of individual he was”.

Lord Uist said Liddell’s account was that the woman’s injuries had been accidental and that there was no sexual motive.

“Such an account did not find favour with the jury. As you have not accepted a sexual element, you have shown no remorse for having committed the crime of which you were convicted,” said Lord Uist.

“You have had serious behavioural problems from the age of about three. You have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and personality disorder. You have abused alcohol and were intoxicated at the time you committed this crime.

“You had an unusual habit of wandering about the streets on your own during the night.”

Liddell had been assessed as posing a medium risk to the safety of the public at large, but Lord Uist said the classification did not exclude the imposition of an OLR.

“I am satisfied that there is a likelihood that, if at liberty, you will seriously endanger the lives or physical or psychological well-being of members of the public at large,” the judge concluded.

• In full: Lord Uist’s statement upon sentencing Dunblane Ryan Liddell