I’m so glad they believed me & jailed rapist
Minister’s relief as physio is given 9 years for decades of horrific abuse
A RAPIST physio was jailed for nine years yesterday for a catalogue of horrific abuse which spanned more than 20 years.
Derek Adams, 60, from Dunfermline, was found guilty last month of 12 offences, including two rapes, an attempted rape and an indecent assault.
He was also found guilty of physically assaulting four women and two children, including a two-year-old girl, and of threatening or abusive behaviour towards one woman.
The offences occurred over a 30-year period between 1985 and 2016, in the Fife, West Lothian and Dunfermline areas and involving five victims.
After he was caged yesterday, one of his victims, who went on to become a minister, told how she was swept off her feet by him at just 17.
They married when she was 20 – but by that time, he was already being violent towards her and their marriage became a living hell.
He was convicted of raping her in a horrific attack in 1985.
After being told of the lengthy sentence, the minister said she was just glad that she and other victims had been believed.
She said: ”I had a fleeting moment when I thought, ‘What have I done?’ when I heard the sentence but then I thought, it is not what I have done, it is what he has done.”
She added: “People are tried by 15 of their peers but it is equally important that th e witnesses are heard by 15 of their peers. They believed me and then the judge believed me too. We were heard and we were believed and even if he appeals, we still have the satisfaction in knowing a judge believed us, given the substantive sentence.
“He will be nearing 70 when he gets out and then he will be supervised for another three years. Even if he gets out in fourand-a-half years, it is still a long time for him to be sitting contemplating what he has done.”
And she implored other women: “If this has happened to you, you should speak to someone about it. Speaking to anyone may give you the strength to do something about it.
“Tell the police, stop it happening to other people.
“I want people to know that you can completely and utterly rebuild your life after sexual abuse and domestic violence.”
Judge Lady Carmichael told Adams: “The picture with which I am presented in the Criminal Justice Social Work Report is of someone who does not recognise he has done anything wrong and continues to blame the complainers.”
Someone who doesn’t recognise he has done anything wrong JUDGE LADY CARMICHAEL SENTENCING ADAMS