Questions after sex attacker fined for climbing into bed with pensioner

A SURVIVOR of the Dunblane massacre broke into the house of an elderly man and climbed into bed with him, just nine months before he tried to rape another pensioner.

Ryan Liddell did not face trial and was not put under supervision for the earlier crime. Instead, he was offered a "direct measure" by prosecutors, a small fine and a warning despite an earlier housebreaking conviction.

The 20-year-old - who was shot by gunman Thomas Hamilton at Dunblane Primary in 1996 - was last week convicted of walking into a 76-year-old woman's home in Dunblane and attempting to rape her.

Less than a year earlier, he entered an 83-year-old man's house, ransacked his wardrobes and cupboards and jumped into bed with him.

The man woke up, realised there was someone in his bed, and ordered Liddell out of his house before calling police. Liddell mumbled an apology and got out of the man's bed.

The cook, who escaped through a back door, was arrested and appeared in court in November 2009. It is thought he got into the house using a ladder. Before he went on to commit the second attack in June, a deal was agreed by the Crown where he was given the direct measure, usually a fine or a warning.

The Crown Office refused to say which direct measure was used in the case.

A spokeswoman said yesterday: "The decision to issue a direct measure as an alternative was entirely appropriate on the information provided to the procurator fiscal."

A spokesman for the Age Scotland charity said: "The failure to prosecute in this case must be questioned - particularly as this break-in had sexual overtones and the person responsible had a conviction for housebreaking."