Sentence cut for court no-show 32-year-old went to Ibiza after being accused of rape

A Doune man who was jailed because he went to Ibiza rather than attend a court hearing on a rape allegation has succeeded in having his prison sentence cut.

Alexander McKinlay, 32, was sentenced to three years’ jail for missing court moments after being acquitted of attacking a 19-year-old girl in November, 2016, in Doune.

Lord Uist imposed the sentence on McKinlay at the High Court in Edinburgh in July 2019.

The judge had been told McKinlay was supposed to appear at the High Court in August 2018 for a procedural hearing into the rape allegation.

But the labourer chose to ignore the proceedings and went instead to Ibiza.

Scottish police launched an international man hunt and they located McKinlay living it up on the Spanish island.

He was extradited to Scotland and spent four days on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Lawyers acting for McKinlay went to the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh earlier this year to argue that their client’s sentence – for missing the court date – was excessive.

In a written judgement issued at the court on Tuesday, Scotland’s most senior judge, the Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway agreed with the submissions made by McKinlay’s lawyers.

In the judgement, Lord Carloway - who sat with his colleagues Lord Menzies and Lord Turnbull - cut McKinlay’s sentence to 18 months.

Lord Carloway wrote that although McKinlay had previous convictions for breaching bail, the three year sentence was too steep.

He wrote: “It is important to recognise that the diet under consideration was not a trial diet but a preliminary hearing.

“Even taking into account the expense of the extradition process and the appellant’s previous convictions, notably the breaches of bail, the court is persuaded the sentence is excessive.”

During proceedings earlier this year, McKinlay denied any wrongdoing. Jurors acquitted him of rape but convicted him on a separate charge of failing to appear in court for a procedural hearing.

Prosecution lawyer Jim Keegan QC told the court that McKinlay ignored a legal order which compelled him to attend all court hearings in court.

Police Scotland officers were diverted from fighting Scottish crime to get on a plane so they could bring McKinlay back to face justice in his home country.

Judge Lord Uist told McKinlay that failing to appear in the high court was a “serious” offence and custody was the only option available to him.

Jailing McKinlay, Lord Uist said: “You have been convicted by the jury of failing to turn up at the preliminary hearing in your case at Glasgow High Court on August 17, 2018.

“You went off to Spain and failed to appear in court on that date. This delayed your trial and involved considerable public expense in having you brought back from Spain after a warrant had been granted for your arrest.”

However, appeal judges ruled Lord Uist’s sentence was excessive.