Killer’s son jailed for rape attempt

THE son of a notorious Tayside killer has been jailed for an attempted rape in Perth.

Mark Lawson was just a teenager when his father John was caged for killing 87-year-old Dolina Maclean and burying her in a shallow grave near Dunning.

Lawson, now 27, was jailed for four and a half years for repeatedly trying to rape a 35-year-old woman at a house in Perth last summer.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that his victim fought him off by striking him with a glass.

Judge Lord Arthurson told Lawson: “This was a sustained and violent attack. This has had enduring and traumatic consequences for this woman.”

He ordered Lawson to be monitored in the community for three years after his release from prison.

Defence counsel Tony Lenehan told the court his client’s life was turned upside down when his father’s murder came to light.

“When the accused was 13 he was doing well at school and was in the school orchestra,” he said.

“Then his father was arrested for a notorious murder. The local papers carried little other than this.”

Mr Lenehan said the conviction of his father for culpable homicide of Maclean had a profound effect on Lawson and his family.

The court heard that Lawson took to alcohol and had been drinking excessively when the attempted rape took place on July 19 last year.

He was originally charged with rape, but the Crown accepted his plea to the reduced charge of attempted rape.

Referring to the attempted rape, Mr Lenehan said: “He can’t express what he was thinking. He regrets this enormously.

“There are unresolved matters in relation to the extraordinary drama of his teenage years.

“Mr Lawson has misused alcohol as a means of avoiding the issues that arose. He has expressed remorse, but he knows he can’t blame the drink.”

Prosecutor Angela Gray told the court: “During the incident the complainer was shouting ‘stop,’ ‘let me go’ and ‘this is rape.’

“She continued to struggle and managed to grab a glass tumbler and struck the accused on the head with it.

“The glass broke in pieces and she cut her right hand.

“She cannot say how long the accused had her pinned down for. She was pleading with him to stop.”

The court heard the woman finally managed to escape from Lawson during the sustained attack and ran out of the house for help.

The police were called. Lawson made no reply when charged.

Lord Arthurson placed Lawson, who appeared via a videolink, on the sex offenders register.

Mark Lawson was jailed for four and a half years for attempted rape.