Freed early... then offender raped teen just 20 days later
A CAREER criminal raped an 18-year-old student less than three weeks after being freed early from jail.
Mark Arnott attacked his terrified victim after dragging her into a car park, telling her: ‘Come with me. I have got a knife. I will stab you.’
Arnott, 37, forced the teenager to strip before raping her as she pleaded: ‘No, no, please don’t do that to me.’
Jailing him for nine-and-a-half years at the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lord Mulholland told Arnott: ‘You assaulted and raped a young woman who came to one of our great universities to study.
‘She has suffered panic attacks, flashbacks, nightmares and suicidal thoughts. She is scared of the dark and has difficulty sleeping and finds it difficult to trust men.’
In her victim impact statement, the medical student said: ‘An achievement is I have survived another day.’
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘This was a horrific, depraved attack and I hope this custodial sentence will bring a small sense of relief to the victim.
‘It is outrageous and unacceptable that yet again a dangerous criminal has been released from prison early, only to commit a violent, appalling crime within a very short amount of time.
‘The victim will live with this latest failure of the system for the rest of her life.’
Arnott has extensive previous convictions for robbery as well as dishonesty and motoring offences.
He was ordered to be on licence for four years after his release from prison and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
The serial criminal, who had earlier admitted the rape, had been on licence at the time of the attack, having been jailed for robbery, a sentence that had been due to expire in May 2020.
He carried out the rape only 20 days after he was freed. The court heard the victim’s ordeal only ended when her cries for help were heard by people at a nearby dance class.
The effect of the rape has been so traumatic that she does not go out at night on her own and is waiting to see a psychologist.
The girl was walking near the car park in Dundee’s West Henderson’s Wynd as Arnott stood smoking nearby.
He was captured on CCTV running up behind the teenager, grabbing her and dragging her into the car park.
Prosecutor Lynsey MacDonald said the teenager ‘begged’ to be let go but Arnott ignored her. She yelled: ‘I am being raped... he is raping me.’
Arnott ran off as one woman gave chase and was traced three days later when he admitted being out that evening as his ‘head was in a pickle’ due to issues with the mother of his children.
Defence counsel Ronnie Renucci said: ‘He very much regrets his actions. He says his original intention was to rob her.’
Yesterday, Lord Mulholland told Arnott: ‘You have done this to this young woman. You inflicted this on her by your actions. You have engaged in victim-blaming and have shown no empathy.’
Last night, Detective Chief Inspector Graham Binnie said: ‘This was a horrendous crime and we are pleased to hear about the conclusion of the court case.
‘I would particularly like to acknowledge the courage of the victim, who despite the trauma she suffered at the hands of Arnott, was able to provide vital evidence and information to the police which enabled us to identify and arrest him.’
He added: ‘We wish her well in her continuing recovery and hope today’s sentencing provides her with a measure of closure.’
‘Horrendous crime’