‘Noose rapist’ sentenced for sex crimes

A HIGH-risk sex attacker from Perth who tightened a noose around a woman’s neck until she blacked out, then raped her, has been jailed.

John Todd’s victim came round in a barn at a small village in Fife to find herself tied up with her trousers and underwear pulled down.

The woman was one of three victims of a series of sex crimes perpetrated by Todd over a five-year period in Perth, Angus and Fife.

Judge Lady Haldane told him: “You were found guilty of seven charges of rape involving three different complainers.

“Many of these offences involved acts of aggression and violence in order to rape these women.”

Sentencing at the High Court in Edinburgh, she said: “It was evident from the evidence of the complainers that your actions have caused considerable harm to all of them.”

She said a background report made it clear he took no responsibility for his crimes and continued to deny them.

“Your behaviour in respect of each of these women demonstrated a clear pattern of controlling behaviour,” she said.

She sentenced him to nine and a half years’ imprisonment but said after taking into account lengthy periods spent on remand, he would serve five years and 10 months from yesterday.

The judge also ordered that he be kept under supervision for a further three years.

Todd, formerly of Pomarium Street, Perth, was told he will be placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

One woman told jurors at his trial she had visited the barn with Todd, where he raped her while she was unconscious, with the noose around her neck.

He also raped the 24-year-old in a hotel in Kirkcaldy.

He was found guilty of both rapes, between July 2019 and March last year and on August 17 2019, respectively. The court heard that Todd had been assessed as posing a high risk of committing further similar offences.