Judge’s praise for victims as serial rapist is jailed for nine years
The victims of a rapist who laughed as he throttled a young woman during a brutal ordeal have been praised by a judge for giving evidence against him.
Judge Lady Poole praised the bravery of the four young women as she gave their attacker, Dillon Anderson, 21, a nine-year prison sentence.
He raped the young women during a campaign of abuse which he began when he was just 14 years old.
Thehighcourtinedinburgh heardhowandersonthrottled two of his victims during the assaults. One woman - a former undergraduate of Edinburgh University - said Anderson repeatedly caused her to pass out after compressing her neck. On one occasion, he was so scared that he had killed her he checked her pulse.
Jurors heard how Anderson wanted her to take part in "rape” role plays where she would be unconscious and he would do “whatever he wanted”. Describing one occasion, she was throttled, the woman - now aged 23 - told police: “When I came round, he was checking my pulse and he said ‘I thought you had died’. He looked panicked.”
One of the women also made a covert recording of Anderson attacking her - the sounds of her screaming and telling her assailant to stop were played to jurors. Anderson could be heard laughing as he ignored her pleas.
The story emerged after Anderson, a former resident of Edinburgh’s New Town area, was found guilty earlier this year of raping the women, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Yesterday, judge Lady Poole told Anderson that his conduct was “disturbing”. She also ordered the authorities to supervise him for four years following his release from custody.
Passing sentence, Lady Poole told him that she had read statements from the women detailing how Anderson’s conduct has affected them. She added: “The sexual violence you perpetrated is disturbing. One of your victims spoke to losing consciousness because of you compressing her neck.
“When she came round, thereweretimesyouwerehaving sex with her. There were other times when she came to, and you said you thought she’d died and laughed, or you were checking her pulse because you thought she might have died.
“These were terrifying experiences. I have read victim impact statements. Your victims suffered grievously at your hands, and their contact with you has left them with long lasting emotional scars.
“They are to be commended for having the courage to come forward, and go through the difficult experience of giving evidence about what happened to them.”
Anderson committed his offences between May, 2014 and January, 2020.
Defence solicitor advocate Iain Mcsporran QC told the court that Anderson had started to appreciate how his actions had affected his women. He added: “There is the beginning of an acknowledgement on his part.”
Passing sentence, Lady Poole also placed Anderson on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life. She also ordered that Anderson not contact his victims for 25 years.