Shocking moment rapist ESCAPES guards and flees Scots court after horror ‘basement lair’ attack

THIS is the shocking moment a Scots rapist escapes guards and flees court after a horror basement lair attack on a teenage girl. Footage from the High Court in Edinburgh shows Aaron Strachan running from guards after sentencing was adjourned on January 13 earlier this year. Aaron Strachan, now 21, was today given a life sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh The rapist escaped from custody while leaving the court building in Edinburgh Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk Strachan, now 21, abducted a 15-year-old girl in the early hours of the morning and marched her to a dingy basement in Edinburgh where he subjected her to a horrific ordeal. The “wild animal” rapist was today given a life sentence. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! After the sex attack Strachan told her “don’t tell anyone” and warned he would hurt her if she did. He forced her to show him her bus pass so that he knew her name and would be able to find the victim. Strachan who has an extensive criminal record including possession of weapons and assault and robbery of a child, earlier attacked a man with a knife before he perpetrated the rape. The violent criminal struck again days later when he launched an unprovoked attack on another man with a hammer that resulted in the victim having 11 titanium plates inserted to his fractured skull. Judge Michael O’Grady KC imposed an Order for Lifelong Restriction on Strachan and ordered that he serve a minimum of five years in jail before he becomes eligible to seek release. He told the offender that he considered that because of the risk posed he was “likely to remain in prison for many years, if indeed you are ever released”. Most read in The Sun The judge said he was confident that the rape victim would not allow the ordeal she suffered at his hands to define her life. He earlier told Strachan at the High Court in Edinburgh: “In the course of only four days, on two separate occasions and with a knife and hammer, you attacked two individuals who were defenceless and who offered you no offence or threat.” “This you did in a public street with casual brutality, leaving both with severe injuries and one scarred and disabled for life,” he said. Judge Michael O’Grady KC said: “All of this is bad enough and I do not for a moment minimise the ordeal of these victims in any regard. They must have feared for their lives and will have to live with the memory of their ordeal.” “But to be added to that shameful tally is that uniquely hideous crime, the rape of a child.” The judge said: “Those of who have practised in these courts these many years have to listen day and daily to the dreadful things people do to each other. But some crimes still retain the power to shock and horrify. And what you did that night in May last year is surely one of them.” He said: “The comparison with a wild animal stalking its prey is inevitable. By chance or design, you came across your victim. You would have seen that she was alone, utterly vulnerable and that she was very young.” “Precisely because of that you followed her, taking care to conceal yourself. Nonetheless, she instinctively knew she had become a target. She tried to escape from your attentions and probably thought she had. And then, as with all predators, you chose a time and place to pounce.” “What followed was truly horrific. You seized her. You produced a knife. You covered her mouth and you dragged her to your lair. Her terror can barely be imagined. With each step she must have feared, indeed must have known, what was to come. And what was to come was totally depraved and utterly wicked,” said the judge. He said: “This is the stuff of nightmares for every woman, every young girl and every parent who waits at home for their child to return safe. This child did not return safe.” The court heard that the girl had spent the evening at a friend’s home before leaving to head for a bus stop where Strachan, who was wearing a balaclava, sat down beside her, leaving her feeling uneasy. Advocate depute Chris McKenna said: “She chose to walk on to keep herself safe and increased her walking pace to be closer to a woman who was ahead of her.” “She stayed close until the woman turned left and she turned right along Princes Street. As she walked she continued to feel unease and often looked over her shoulder for the accused but could not see him,” said the prosecutor. She halted at a bus stop outside the Marks and Spencer store on Princes Street, but Strachan ran towards her and came into the shelter. Judge Michael O’Grady KC imposed an Order for Lifelong Restriction on Strachan Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk He was arrested on June 1 last year after police found hiding behind shrubs in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh Credit: Michael Schofield He walked up to her and stood in front of her, demanded her phone and warned: “Don’t scream.” He brought out a knife and threatened to harm her, before seizing her by the shoulders. He marched her through various streets, before he forced her down steps towards a basement at a building in York Place. The terrified teenager was forced into a rubbish strewn room with a mattress and bed sheets. She was instructed to get onto the mattress while Strachan dragged his knife down a wall. Mr McKenna said: “He was whispering and muttering to himself which increased her sense of dread.” Strachan demanded the girl take off her leggings and underwear before he sexually assaulted her. The prosecutor said: “She pleaded with him to let her go, but he ignored her. He told her he would not stop ‘until it’s done’.” After the assault he told her to put the bedding in bags and walked her to nearby bins to dispose of them. Mr McKenna said: “(He) told her ‘don’t tell anyone’, that if she did, he would find her and hurt her.” The girl later revealed to her mother what had happened to her and police were contacted. Strachan earlier admitted abducting and raping the underage girl on May 25 last year. He also pled guilty to assaulting Steven Logan at South Bridge, in Edinburgh, to his severe injury by repeatedly striking him on the hand with a knife. Strachan also admitted assaulting Walid El Maaroufi to his severe injury, permanent impairment and disfigurement and to the danger of his life on May 28 last year at High Riggs, Tollcross, in Edinburgh by repeatedly hitting him on the head with a claw hammer. He was arrested on June 1 last year after police found hiding behind shrubs in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh. He denied raping the teenager at the time and claimed that he might have been at the basement to take drugs, but could not be sure. Defence solicitor advocate Simon Collins urged the judge not to impose an OLR on Strachan and argued that he could be dealt with by a sentence of a substantial period of imprisonment followed by supervision and monitoring in the community. Strachan admitted a further charge today of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by breaking free from handcuffs following a court appearance on January 13 this year at Parliament Square, in Edinburgh, and running off into the Royal Mile which sparked a mass manhunt before he was detained by police. 2 comments2