I cried with relief when my abuser finally died
Brute was due to be released within a year
A SEX abuse victim burst into tears with relief after being told her attacker who was due to be released within a year had just died in prison.
Holly Hamilton was only 15 when carer Gordon Collins began abusing her while she was living under his watch at a councilrun children’s unit in 2006.
Opportunities to catch him failed at the time and it wasn’t until 2014 that police approached Holly – now 33 – about the historic abuse after someone read her teenage diary.
Collins was jailed for six years in June 2016 after being found guilty of historic sex offences against four underage girls but his sentence was later increased to 10 years after a Crown appeal.
Holly said she wept with relief after she received a call last week to say Collins, had died in prison.
She said: “I ’d ha v e expected that when I was told he was dead I ’d h a v e jumped around the r oom but instead I burst into tears. It was a very odd feeling. It’s been nearly 20 years since the abuse and 10 years since he was sent to prison.
“I’ve lived for two decades knowing that he is still there.
“I knew he was going to get out one day and I’ve been terrified he would find out where I live.”
Prison sources confirmed Collins had died in the last few days.
Holly, from Hamilton, who has bravely waived her right to anonymity to talk about her ordeal added: “Because of the abuse, I suffer hallucinations and once I spent 15 minutes frozen to the spot in Asda as I was convinced Collins was in the bread aisle.
“So to know this huge chapter is finally over, gives me some closure.”
Collins abused his victims, including Holly, between 1995 and 2006 at two residential children’s homes run by Edinburgh City Council – St Katharine’s and Northfield Young Persons Unit.
Holly was first sent to Northfield when she was about 14 but was later moved to secure unit St Katharine’s after her behaviour deteriorated.
She initially met Collins in Northfield, where he was a carer, but when she was moved to St Katharine’s he followed and began to sexually assault her.
In 2021 Holly, who was not believed when she first reported the sexual abuse and now suffers from PTSD, was awarded £100,000 in damages from Edinburgh City Council.
I knew he was getting out and I was terrified he would find out where I live