Serial rapist Wright ‘is a psychopath’, hearing told

A SERIAL sex attacker who avoided deportation after judges ruled it was “irrational” to assume he would offend again has a psychopathic personality, a court has heard.

Chan Wright, 40, raped and brutalised three women in a series of attacks over a 15-year period. He is facing a life-sentence for the crimes – and now tests have shown he has personality characteristics similar to a psychopath.

Experts advised that, if he is ever released, he will need to be monitored round the clock by the authorities.

Wright received a high score in a test to see if he suffered from the personality disorder, the High Court in Edinburgh heard yesterday.

The court heard how the Jamaican immigrant is unable to accept his guilt for the sex attacks. He is also unable to understand his victims’ pain and suffering.

Such behaviour is a common feature of psychopathy, a psychological condition which affects the behaviour of some serious criminal offenders. The revelation emerged on the first day of a two-day hearing into whether Wright should receive a life sentence for his September 2011 conviction for raping and brutalising three women. He also indecently assaulted another two women. Wright preyed on the females in a series of assaults in Edinburgh, West Lothian, Angus and Aberdeenshire over a 15-year period. The verdicts in these cases came four years after Court of Session judges stopped him being deported.

Then, an immigration tribunal decided the rapist and cocaine trafficker posed a high risk of committing further sex and drugs offences, but Lord Johnston, sitting with Lord Eassie and Lord Wheatley, said its conclusion was “irrational and not justified”. Wright had already served four years for raping a teenager in Livingston in 1995. Now Crown Office lawyers want the High Court to impose a life sentence on Wright, who is also a convicted a drug dealer.

Yesterday, the court heard excerpts from a risk assessment report written by forensic psychologist Stephen Evans.

Mr Evans interviewed Wright in prison and concluded that he would pose a “high risk” of reoffending if released. The report stated that Wright was given a test to see if he was a psychopath. He obtained a high score and Mr Evans concluded that he had difficulty empathising with his victims.

The report also stated that if Wright was released back into the community, the authorities should consider monitoring him at all times.

Mr Evans said that Wright was also abused as a child. He added: “There are issues from his childhood which are clearly unresolved. Until these issues are resolved Mr Wright is likely to continue to be a risk to women.”

Wright’s legal team argue that it would be a breach of his human rights if he were to be handed a life sentence.

The hearing continues.