Former PMs’ aide guilty of raping teen in campervan

A former aide to two Prime Ministers is facing another jail sentence after being convicted of rape for the second time within a month.

Mark Adams, 56, was found guilty on Tuesday of sexually assaulting a 19yr old student in Regent Road, Edinburgh. Picture: BBC

Mark Adams, 56, was found guilty yesterday of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old student on Regent Road in Edinburgh in the early hours of 10 August 2017.

Edinburgh High Court heard how Adams abused the teenager on the floor of his camper van. His victim had told a jury how the former civil servant had preyed on her as she returned home from a night out at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

She told the court how she had fallen asleep only to wake up and find the divorced father-of-four having sex with her.

Adams, from Fareham in Hampshire, claimed he had consensual sex with the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

But after spending two hours in deliberations, jurors returned a guilty verdict to one charge of rape.

After hearing how Adams had been convicted on the same charge at Woolwich Crown Court last month, judge Lord Armstrong yesterday deferred sentencing to obtain reports on his character.

He also remanded the businessman in custody.

Lord Armstrong was also told Adams had been convicted of sexual assault in a Welsh court last year.

The judge told Adams: “You must know by now that rape is a grave crime against which all women should be protected.

“It is inevitable that a sentence of imprisonment will follow, but before I can pass sentence on you I must be fully informed about your circumstances.”

The verdict came on the fourth day of proceedings against Adams, who served as private secretary to both John Major and Tony Blair during the 1990s.

He was made an OBE in 1997 and is a graduate of Cambridge University.

After leaving the Civil Service, Adams set up a public affairs agency called Foresight Consulting in 2001. His company acted for clients including the Police Federation.

In recent years Adams acted as a lobbyist and held high-profile roles including chairman of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and of the Professional Lobbying Company. Last month Adams was convicted of raping a 24-year-old woman on a sofa bed at his former London home the morning after the 2015 general election. He was also convicted at Swansea Crown Court in October of sexually assaulting a barmaid in Tenby, Wales.

In the latest case, jurors were told how the Edinburgh teen had decided to walk home after leaving a nightclub in Edinburgh around 5:15am feeling quite drunk. The woman said she stopped in Regent Road to get some rest.

The court heard that Adams then approached her and helped her into his camper van. She fell asleep on a mattress in the van and was raped by Adams. Adams will be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on 26 March.