Stalking police officer drops sentence appeal

BIRKHILL: Scott Gorrie’s bid to cut ‘harsh’ 32-month jail term abandoned

A police officer jailed for gaslighting and stalking a crime victim before tampering with evidence has abandoned his appeal against a 32-month prison sentence.

Disgraced officer Scott Gorrie, who is being kept in prison isolation up to 23 hours per day for his own safety, had lodged legal papers to fight the sentence.

He had claimed the two years and eight months term was unduly harsh for a first offender.

Gorrie, 43, faked a series of dramatic scenarios to con his paramedic lover into thinking that both of their lives were in danger – known as gaslighting”.

He later tried to convince acquaintances to tell lies for him to cover his tracks and save his career with Police Scotland.

The police constable was made the subject of a three-year non-harassment order to prevent him from contacting his victim.

Gorrie targeted her after attending a domestic incident at her home, then lured her into a relationship by friending her on Facebook, before bombarding her with 6,000 phone messages.

Shortly after forming the relationship behind his wife’s back, the father-of-two started creating a fantasy world to con his new girlfriend into thinking she was being stalked.

He eventually turned to two associates for help in creating a plausible back story to ward off an internal police investigation. He tried to persuade them to tamper with evidence for him.

Gorrie, from Birkhill, near Dundee, admitted four charges including stalking in Perthshire between June 13 and 26 last year.

Fiscal Fiona Karnan told the court former car valeter Gorrie had been a constable since 2015 and had been based in Blairgowrie when he was called to a routine incident at the woman’s home.

Knowing she was in the middle of a divorce, he tracked her down on Facebook and within a few weeks he had become involved in a relationship with her which included meeting her family.

The woman had expressed to him a fear that her estranged husband was monitoring her and Gorrie played on that fear to hatch an elaborate stream of lies.

He lied that he had been a dog handler and a traffic officer and told her they were both being followed and he feared that their lives were in danger.

Mrs Karnan said: “This is not the usual stalking charge. He caused the complainer real fear and alarm.”

Sheriff William Wood told Gorrie: “Your actions are indicative of someone who is a cynical, manipulative opportunist. The fact you were a police officer is a significant aggravating feature. It is thoroughly reprehensible.”