Man pleads guilty to rape of pensioner who regarded him as a grandson

• Defendant Jay Soso pleaded guilty to raping 63-year-old Marie Reid, who regarded him as grandson

• Pathologists said rape could have contributed to death of pensioner

Jay Soso, 19, pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday to attacking 63-year-old Marie Reid at her home in Easter Drylaw Way, Edinburgh.

Her body was found four days after the attack, when family and neighbours became worried they had not heard from her.

She was found lying in the living room in a blood-stained nightdress. Pathologists said the trauma of the rape contributed to Mrs Reid’s death.

Initially, police thought the death was not suspicious but her son Paul, 31, pressed for further investigations to be made.

Yesterday, he said: “There was something not right. I got a funny feeling as soon as I entered the house.”

He said he became worried when he noticed the pre-paid meter for her television was missing along with a tin in which she collected loose change, and her purse was empty. He and his stepsister, Jacqueline Sanderson, 38, and her husband, Gordon, 54, asked for the matter to be thoroughly investigated.

Soso and his mother lived next door to Mrs Reid for five years between 2003 and 2008. He helped Mrs Reid by running errands for her and she was described by Soso’s mother Sharon as treating him “like a grandson”.

Soso’s family moved to England, but he did not like it there and moved back to Edinburgh.

By 2010, he had a job in an Edinburgh fishmonger and lived near Mrs Reid.

He visited her occasionally, claiming he was checking to see how she was, before raping her on 11 November, 2010.

When questioned by police about the rape and the killing, he denied involvement.

Prosecutor Leanne Cross said Mrs Reid was frail and could only walk short distances before becoming breathless.

When the house was entered after concerns were raised, she was found with her head resting on the arm of a sofa. Initially police thought her death was not suspicious but a second post mortem examination was carried out. It was then discovered someone had had sex with Mrs Reid just before her death.

A consultant gynaecologist who examined Mrs Reid said she would have found the sex painful and distressing and a degree of force would have been necessary. The cause of death was not ascertained, but pathologists said the rape would have put an additional strain on her heart and lungs and could have predisposed her to sudden death.

Soso, of Spring Gardens, Edinburgh, was originally charged with murder but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide.

Judge Lady Dorrian deferred sentence and remanded him in custody.