...as officers quiz man over her rape claims

A MAN has been questioned by police over Michelle Thomson’s revelations that she was raped as a young teenager.

While an MP, she made an emotional and powerful speech in the House of Commons last December in which she detailed the horrific moment she was attacked by someone she knew and trusted.

Many of her colleagues were visibly moved as she revealed that a man had led her into a wooded area and raped her after a youth event when she was just 14.

It was the first time Mrs Thomson had publicly disclosed her ordeal and she has since spoken about it to police, who are said to have questioned a man over the assault 37 years ago.

Detective Superintendent Stuart Houston told a Sunday newspaper: ‘An investigation was conducted by Police Scotland, and as a result a 54-year-old man has been detained, interviewed and released pending further investigations.’

Mrs Thomson had never reported the rape to police and had never confided in her mother, who died not knowing about her daughter’s ordeal.

She told the Commons she carried ‘guilt, anger, fear, sadness and bitterness’ with her for years after the attack.

But she added: ‘I’m not a victim, I’m a survivor’.

Mrs Thomson made her speech during a debate in Parliament focused on the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

She said: ‘A rape happens when a man makes a decision to hurt someone he feels he can control.

‘Rapes happen because of the rapist, not the victim.’

She said the assault had a ‘huge effect’ on her life, and had undermined ‘my selfesteem, my confidence and my sense of self-worth’.

Mrs Thomson received an outpouring of support from across the political sphere after her speech, with Nicola Sturgeon saying it was ‘incredibly brave’ of her to share her story.