Judge Lord Arthurson Killer’s son is locked up for attempted rape in Perth house
Four-and-a-half years for ‘sustained attack’
The son of one of Scotland’s most notorious killers was yesterday jailed for fourand-a-half years for an attempted rape in Perth.
Twenty-seven-year-old Mark Lawson, whose father John was jailed for 13 years for killing 87-year-old Dolina Maclean from Stanley and burying her in a shallow grave, admitted repeatedly trying to rape a 34-year-old at a house in Perth on July 19 last year.
At the High Court in Glasgow judge Lord Arthurson told Lawson: “This was a sustained and violent attack. This has had enduring and traumatic consequences for this woman.”
He ordered Lawson to be monitored in the community for three years after his release from prison.
Prosecutor Angela Gray told the court: “During the incident the complainer was shouting ‘stop’ ‘let me go’ and ‘this is rape.’
“She continued to struggle and managed to grab a glass tumbler and struck the accused on the head with it.
“The glass broke in pieces and she cut her right hand.
“She cannot say how long the accused had her pinned down for. She was pleading with him to stop.”
The court heard the woman finally managed to escape from Lawson during the sustained attack and ran out of the house for help. The police were called. Lawson made no reply when charged.
Defence counsel Tony Lenehan said: “When the accused was 13 he was doing well at school and was in the school orchestra, then his father was arrested for a notorious murder. The local papers carried little other than this.”
Mr Lenehan said the conviction of his father for culpable homicide of Maclean had a profound effect on Lawson. Lawson took to alcohol and had been on an all-day bender when the attempted rape took place.
He was originally charged with rape, but the Crown accepted his plea to the reduced charge of attempted rape.
Referring to the attempted rape, Mr Lenehan added: “He can’t express what he was thinking. He regrets this enormously.”
He added: “There are unresolved matters in relation to the extraordinary drama of his teenage years.
“Mr Lawson has misused alcohol as a means of avoiding the issues that arose. He has expressed remorse, but he knows he can’t blame the drink.”
Lord Arthurson placed Lawson, who appeared via a videolink, on the sex offenders’ register.
This has had enduring and traumatic consequences for this woman