Aberdeen rape survivor 'happy' with sentence passed down to attacker

A rapist who attacked a stranger in the centre of Aberdeen has been jailed for 10 years.

Despicable Alasdair McDonald, 49, attacked 21-year-old Katie Johnston at Union Terrace Gardens at 3am on 28th January 2016.

The masked pervert forced the young woman to the ground, repeatedly struck her on the head, restricted her breathing and then dragged her into nearby bushes before raping her.

The High Court in Glasgow heard how police caught McDonald was caught shortly afterwards.

On Tuesday, at the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lord Arthurson told McDonald that he had no other option but to send him to prison.

Ordering McDonald to be supervised by the authorities for three years following his release from custody, Lord Arthurson said: “I have had the opportunity to consider a victim impact statement in this case.

“It is plain to me that your crime, which upon your conviction I described to you as abhorrent has had a profound and traumatic impact upon your victim.

“As she has expressed matters herself 'The crime has scared me to my very core - I think about what happened that night every single day and the individual who did this to me has left me with an overwhelming feeling of sadness and emptiness.'

“You will appreciate, however, that such is the gravity of the offence before the court today, there is no alternative to the imposition of a very substantial custodial disposal in your case.

“In these circumstances, I am therefore imposing an extended sentence on you today.”

Sentence had been deferred for the court to obtain reports on McDonald's character.

During proceedings at the high court last month, a jury heard how He pounced on the student after he saw her walking down a nearby street. The court heard that the woman sat down on a park bench and started texting her friend when McDonald pounced.

The court heard how McDonald seized her neck from behind, placed his hand over her mouth and then dragged her into bushes before he forcibly removed her clothes.

McDonald was masked during the entire attack and the woman was terrified about what he was doing to her.

Police found the clothing item just a few yards away. Forensic scientists discovered McDonald's DNA on the item.

The court also heard that after the rape, McDonald was spoken to by the police as a potential witness to the attack.

Denying that he had been anywhere near Union Terrace Gardens, McDonald tried to shift the blame by lying about his whereabouts. He said: “I saw a black man walking away.”

However, detectives examined CCTV cameras in Aberdeen city centre and established that McDonald was in the crime area at the time of the rape.

The combination of the CCTV evidence and the DNA was enough to bring McDonald to court and eventually bring him to justice.

On Tuesday, defence solicitor advocate Iain Paterson told the court that his client had tried to plead guilty to a lesser charge before the start of his trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Mr Paterson added: “He did offer a plea at the start of proceedings but this was unacceptable to the Crown.”

But Lord Arthurson said he had no other option but to impose an extended sentence on McDonald.

He added: "I have concluded without difficulty that you represent a high risk of causing serious sexual harm from which it is necessary to protect the public.

"In my view, the normal period of licence, would not be sufficient to protect the public from the risk which you resent on your release from custody."