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

You were convicted after trial by the jury at Dumbarton High Court of aggravated assault with intent to rape of a frail, elderly lady, in her home in Dunblane on 14 June 2010.

The terms of the conviction were that you entered her house and assaulted her there, pretended that you were there to perform carer duties for her, pushed her to the floor and, while she was on the floor, kicked her on the head, seized hold of her arms and lifted her to her feet, placed your hand over her mouth in an attempt to prevent her calling for assistance, scratched her on the face, repeatedly punched her on the head and body, pushed her to the floor, dragged her across the floor, told her that you wanted to have sexual intercourse with her and removed her clothing and pants, all with intent to rape her and to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement, permanent impairment and the danger of her life.

As a result of your assault upon she suffered injuries to her head and body, the most serious of which was a comminuted fracture dislocation of her left shoulder, for which she had to undergo surgery. She also lost a tooth and had an injury to her left eye, causing it to droop. She has been mentally affected by the ordeal to which you subjected her. She has been in hospital or a nursing home since the attack as she is no longer able to live independently. In effect, you ruined the rest of her life by what you did to her.

It is shocking that a young man such as you could have committed such a terrible crime on a vulnerable, elderly lady by subjecting her to such violence in her own home in the middle of the night. It is impossible to forget the condition that she was in when she gave her filmed interview to the police in hospital. The age and physical condition of your victim, as well as the fact that you attacked her in her own home where she was entitled to feel safe, are serious aggravations of this crime.

You are now 21 years old, but were only 19 at the time of the assault. You have two previous convictions, one for theft by housebreaking in 2009 and one for breach of bail conditions in 2010. You were in employment and lived in a flat on your own in June 2010. You initially denied to the police that you had been in this woman’s house and you have since then repeatedly provided an account of the incident which suggests that her injuries were accidental and that you had no sexual motive. Such an account did not find favour with the jury, who rejected it in their verdict. As you have not accepted your guilt of a sexual attack, you have shown no remorse for having committed the crime of which you were convicted.

In determining the appropriate sentence I must first consider whether the risk criteria are met in this case. These are that the nature of, or the circumstances of the commission of, the offence either in themselves or as part of a pattern of behaviour, are such as to demonstrate 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. Having considered the nature and circumstances of the offence, which I have already described and which speak for themselves, and the terms of the psychiatric, social enquiry and risk assessment reports, as well as the oral evidence of the risk assessor, Dr Darjee, I have concluded that the risk criteria are met in your case.

You have had serious behavioural problems, including aggression, from the age of about three, although that aggression did not persist throughout childhood and adolescence. You have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and a personality disorder consisting of a number of traits, as described by Dr Darjee. You have abused alcohol, and were intoxicated at the time that you committed this crime. You have an unusual habit of wandering about the streets on your own during the night and previous incidents in which you were involved show a tendency on your part to enter private property without permission. You have breached bail conditions on more than one occasion, thus demonstrating that you cannot be trusted to comply with orders made by the court. Dr Darjee has assessed you as posing a medium risk to the safety of the public at large in accordance with the system of classification of the Risk Management Authority. This means that you are capable of causing serious harm, but in the most probable future scenarios there are sufficient protective factors to moderate that risk, that you evidence the capacity to engage with risk management strategies and may respond to treatment, but that you may become a high risk in the absence of the protective factors specified in the risk assessment report. The protective factors identified by Dr Darjee are your intelligence, your relationship with your family, your employment history, your lack of history of violent or sexual offending, your willingness to work with supervising services and your commitment to stop drinking. Your classification as medium, as opposed to high, risk to the safety of the public does not exclude the risk criteria being met.

In light of the nature and circumstances of the crime which you committed and the risk factors identified, balanced against the protective factors, I am satisfied that there is indeed 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. I therefore make an order for lifelong restriction in respect of you on charge 1.

I must also fix the punishment part of your sentence, being the period which you must serve in full in prison before you can apply for release on licence. Had I been imposing a determinate sentence in this case I would have sentenced you to 12 years imprisonment, thus entitling you to apply for release on licence after 6 years. I therefore fix the punishment part of your sentence at 6 years. I must state that it does not follow that you will be released after 6 years: you will be released only when the Parole Board considers that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that you continue to be held in prison.

The sentence on charge 1 will run from 16 August 2010. As a result of that sentence you now become subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for an indefinite period.

On charge 4 I admonish you.