Son of killer is jailed for rape attempt

The son of a notorious Tayside killer has been jailed for an attempted rape in Perth. Mark Lawson was just a teenager when his father John was jailed for killing 87-year-old Dolina Maclean and burying her in a shallow grave near Dunning.

Lawson, now 27, was jailed for four-and-a-half years yesterday for repeatedly trying to rape a 35-year-old woman at a house in Perth last summer.

The High Court in Glasgow heard how his victim fought him off by striking him with a glass.

Judge Lord Arthurson told Lawson: “The sexual attack which you perpetrated upon your victim was sustained and violent and occasioned a variety of injuries to her.

“She required to attend Perth Royal Infirmary for treatment.

“The impact of your attempted rape upon your victim has had enduring and traumatic consequences for her.”

He ordered Lawson to be monitored in the community for three years after his release from prison.

Defence counsel Tony Lenehan told how his client’s life was turned upside down when his father’s murder came to light.

“When the accused was 13 he was doing well at school and was in the school orchestra,” he said.

The court heard that Lawson took to alcohol and had been drinking excessively when the attempted rape took place on July 19 last year. He was originally charged with rape.

Mr Lenehan said: “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.”

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.

Lord Arthurson placed Lawson, who appeared via a videolink, on the sex offenders’ register.

His father, John Lawson, was sentenced to 15 years over the death of retired nurse Ms Maclean.

A jury found him guilty of abducting her in May 2008 and driving her to the woods at Moneydie, near Perth, where she died.

He was also convicted of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by burying the body of Ms Maclean in a shallow grave in woods near Dunning.

The one time Foreign Legionnaire had admitted from the outset that he had abducted Ms Maclean from the Tesco car park in Crieff, where she had been shopping.

In a series of police interviews he confessed to forcing her to drive him to woods near Almondbank.

Lawson’s sentence was later cut to 10 years following an appeal.