Neighbours say rapist’s threats drove them out

A COUPLE have said they were forced out of their home after being threatened by Da Vinci rapist Robert Greens.

Caitlyn Nelson, 20, and her boyfriend David Smith, 21, decided to move out of the street occupied by Greens because they felt “caged” by the sex offender. They said they could no longer bear looking out of their window and seeing the home of the man who violently raped a Dutch student in 2005.

It came as another couple living near the home of the convicted sex offender were seen packing up their belongings and moving out.

Shop worker Caitlyn claimed Greens threatened her, forcing her to call the police to the secluded area of Bonnyrigg in June.

The couple have now moved into Caitlyn’s parents’ house in Mayfield.

She said: “We’re living at my mum and dad’s house until other council accommodation becomes available. They offered us temporary accommodation but at £600 per month it was too expensive. The house next to us has also moved out.

“It was getting too hard every day looking out of the window and we felt caged. We had to report him [Greens] to the police for threatening us. It was upsetting and I don’t really want to talk about it.”

Police confirmed that they had visited Ramsay Cottages on June 28 after Ms Nelson reported that Greens had threatened her. Discussions were held with both parties, and police said they were no longer investigating.

Protester Kelly Parry, 29, who lives a couple of 
hundred metres away from Greens in Rosewell, said his presence was affecting the whole community, including the local economy.

She said: “There is a lovely nearby housing estate called Orchard Grange, where homes sell for between £350,000 and £400,000. There was a house that had been sold, but the sale fell through last week because of Greens.

“Houses No 2 and 3 have now left the area because of all this. I saw Caitlyn loading her stuff into the car last weekend and just today [yesterday] I saw the couple who lived next door to her had left.

“I’m very disappointed with the way Midlothian Council is handling this and I’d like to know what they’re going to do with all these empty houses.

“The council keep going on about the economic cost [of Greens], but they haven’t really thought about the implications on the local economy and businesses.

“Dalhousie Castle is only round the corner and there are lots of businesses on the local Butlerfield Estate. People are going to suffer.”

The Evening News told yesterday, above right, how Greens invited one protester into his home to share details about his life.

He revealed that he had a girlfriend in the south of England and wants to leave Midlothian to live with her.

Greens, who was jailed for ten years in 2006, also complained that he had not been allowed to keep his two dogs after his release for fear they would be poisoned.

When the Evening News knocked on his door to talk to him directly, Greens did not answer.

A Midlothian Council spokesman said:”In exceptional circumstances like this, there are processes which allow tenants to be offered alternative accommodation if they meet certain criteria.”