Sick predator struck as vulnerable mum Alison grieved for her partner
A SEX attacker faces a possible life sentence for raping a grieving mum who was found dead hours later.
Lars Pedersen, 37, preyed on Alison McAllister next to the Forth and Clyde Canal near Glasgow’s Maryhill.
He left Alison lying on the canal path but returned the next day and found the care home worker’s lifeless body still there.
At the High Court in Glasgow yesterday, Pedersen admitted raping her in 2018.
He was not charged in connection with her death.
The hearing was told Pedersen had been charged with raping another woman in England about 2012 but she died before the case reached court.
Alison, 56, of Glasgow’s Summerston, had been struggling to cope with her partner’s death in 2009.
Her mood lowered around his birthday on March 18, 2018. She was attacked on March 19 or 20.
Alison had told her daughter she was going to the supermarket but was confronted by Pedersen as she sat near the water. She told him to “go away”.
Prosecutor Owen Mullan said: “Pedersen thought she was drunk, upset and visibly crying. He told her to ‘relax’ and ‘calm down’ but she started to become annoyed with him.”
Pedersen went on to rape the vulnerable woman.
After the attack, he claimed Alison fell asleep.
Her family reported her missing on March 19, 2018.
The next day, Pedersen, who had been living with a friend in the area, went back to the canal path.
Mullan said: “According to him, he found her dead. He checked for a pulse then returned to the canal bank where he summoned help.”
After being arrested weeks later, Pedersen gave a bizarre account to detectives.
This included claims he had sex with her because they were having a “good time” at the canal.
One officer put it to him: “Did you ask her if she was happy to have sex?” Pedersen said: “Yeah.”
The cop asked: “What did she say?” He replied: “She said she was not happy. She started complaining.”
The cause of Alison’s death was not revealed in court.
Judge Lord Doherty called for reports to decide whether an order for lifelong restriction should be imposed on Pedersen and adjourned the case.