SENTENCING STATEMENTS
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HMA v Daniel Alexander Wilson
Nov 12, 2020
On sentencing, Lord Arthurson made the following statement in court:
“Daniel Alexander Wilson, on 16 October 2020 at Edinburgh High Court you were convicted after trial of two charges of rape and one of sexual assault, each of these charges involving separate complainers. In September 2016 when you were aged 16 and in law a child yourself, you sexually assaulted a young woman known to you in a house in Dunfermline. The next month, in October 2016, again when you were aged 16, you forcibly raped another young woman who was also known to you at an outdoor location in Charlestown. Finally, in December 2018, when you were aged 18, you raped a third young woman, again also known to you, while she was intoxicated and asleep at your family home in Dunfermline. These offences are of considerable gravity and you will appreciate that no sentence other than a substantial custodial one will be appropriate in your case.
You are presently 20 years of age. You are a first offender and have a stable and continuous employment history and a supportive family. The author of the criminal justice social work report which has been prepared for today’s sentencing hearing has assessed you as presenting a moderate risk of reconviction for sexual offences. The author notes your past involvement in the misuse of class A and B drugs and the evidence at your trial also indicated that such drug misuse was part of your social landscape during the period of the index offending. The author further records that you demonstrated a victim-blaming attitude in respect of your offending. Nevertheless, it is to be very much hoped that you can and will engage with offence-focussed work while you are in custody and, if required and appropriate, while you are in due course subject to any post-custodial period of licence.
I have listened carefully to what has been said on your behalf this morning by your counsel, and propose to take all of the points advanced in mitigation into account in determining the question of a suitable sentence in your case.
It is plain that while your offences were opportunistic in their nature, they will on any view have had a substantial and lasting impact upon your victims. The charges before the Court represent a course of extremely concerning sexual criminal conduct engaged in by you, including as that criminal conduct did the rape of two young women. In the whole circumstances, turning now to disposal, you will serve on charges 3, 5 and 6 on this indictment, on an in cumulo basis, a period of 6 years detention. This sentence will be backdated to 16 October 2020, being the date of your first remand in custody in this case. But for your young age at the time of your offending, and indeed your age now, the custodial tariff selected today would have been a considerably higher one, standing the gravity and extent of your criminal conduct.
Finally, as a result of this disposal, you will henceforth be subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for an indefinite period.”
12 November 2020