Victim’s relief as rapist is jailed for 10 years
A RAPIST whose victim spoke out to support others subjected to sexual violence was yesterday jailed for ten years.
Katie Johnston waived her right to anonymity to appeal to people who had been attacked after she suffered at the hands of Alasdair McDonald.
The 23-year-old graduate, who was assaulted in Aberdeen city centre’s Union Terrace Gardens following a night out, later revealed she had been ‘scared to the very core’.
McDonald, 49, who wore a mask during the attack, overpowered her, forced her to the ground and repeatedly hit her on the head. He then dragged Miss Johnston into bushes and raped her.
He was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow last month.
Yesterday, Miss Johnston said: ‘I am delighted with this sentence as I was only expecting it to be six or seven years. But this is ten years, with three
‘I did not do anything wrong’
years of supervision after his release, which means he can’t go out and do this to anyone else.
‘I just want to emphasise the point to other victims that they did nothing wrong. There is a problem with victims feeling ashamed but I just want to hug them all and say they did nothing wrong.
‘If other victims speak up, it means people who are a risk can get put off the streets.’
At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, judge Lord Arthurson told McDonald: ‘I have had the opportunity to consider a victim impact statement in this case.
‘It is plain to me that your crime, which upon conviction I described to you as abhorrent, has had a profound and traumatic impact upon your victim. As she has expressed matters herself, “The crime has scared me to my very core. I think about what happened that night every single day and the individual who did this to me has left me with an overwhelming feeling of sadness and emptiness”.
‘I have concluded without difficulty that you represent a high risk of causing serious sexual harm from which it is necessary to protect the public. There is no alternative to the imposition of a very substantial custodial disposal.’
Following the attack in January 2016, Miss Johnston went to the police, who she described as ‘absolutely understanding and helpful’.
At his trial, McDonald admitted sexual assault but denied rape. Miss Johnston, of Aberdeen, bravely chose to face him in court.
Following his conviction, she urged other victims of sexual abuse to contact police. She said: ‘I am speaking out because I want to give a voice to victims and I don’t feel ashamed. I understand it was careless to go into the gardens at that time. But I did not do anything wrong that night.
‘People should be able to walk anywhere they want without the fear of being attacked.
‘Sometimes victims are ashamed to come forward or scared because they don’t know what will happen or they don’t think the police will believe them. But I am proof that it does work in the end.’