SENTENCING STATEMENTS

 

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HMA v Barry Ingleson

 

Apr 18, 2023

At Glasgow High Court today, Lord Arthurson imposed an extended sentence of 18 years imprisonment on Barry Ingleson after the offender was found guilty of multiple rapes and assaults over an 11 year period. The custodial term was set at 14 years, with a 4 year extension.


In sentencing, Lord Arthurson said:

"Barry Ingleson, on 17 March 2023 at Edinburgh High Court you were convicted after trial on the unanimous verdicts of the jury of the following charges: two charges of the assault and rape to injury, two charges of the rape to injury of the same complainer contrary to section 1 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, a further charge of the rape to injury and danger of life of the same complainer contrary to section 1 of the 2009 Act, and additionally a charge of assault in respect of the same complainer; a charge of attempted sexual assault by penetration to injury in respect of a second complainer; a charge of using threatening and abusive behaviour in respect of both of these complainers, contrary to section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010; a charge of rape contrary to section 1 of the 2009 Act in respect of a third complainer; and finally a further charge of rape contrary to section 1 of the 2009 Act in respect of a fourth complainer. This offending took place between August 2009 and August 2020 in Edinburgh.  

Your own senior counsel in the course of the trial accurately described these offences as crimes of great enormity. Your offending in this case has included grave sexual offending against vulnerable women. The fourth complainer in particular, whom you had encountered in a homeless hostel, was plainly an extremely vulnerable person, and her evidence must have been especially difficult for the jury to observe.

Your sexual offending against the first complainer included biting her and placing a mask or similar item over her mouth and a bag over her head whereby her breathing was restricted and she lost consciousness. The offending by you in this case was in my view both opportunistic and predatory.

You are now aged 38. You have to date accrued 13 groups of previous convictions in Scotland and England, one being a domestically aggravated offence in 2021. The author of the criminal justice social work report which has been prepared for this morning’s sentencing hearing states that you are dismissive of the victims of your offending and that you accept no responsibility for your crimes. You have been assessed as presenting a high risk of sexual reoffending and the author reports that in her view post‑release supervision will be necessary to manage your level of risk.

I have listened carefully to the submissions advanced on your behalf this morning by your counsel and propose to take all that has been said by her into account. In particular I note the matters raised concerning your own background and traumatic childhood and educational experiences together with your current mental health difficulties.

Turning now to disposal, it is plain from the gravity of the offending before the Court that only a very substantial custodial sentence is appropriate. On the basis of that offending and the available risk assessment material, I have concluded that the normal period of licence would not be adequate to protect the public from serious harm from you when you are in due course released. I will therefore today impose upon you an extended sentence, which sentence will be in two parts.

The first part will be custodial. The second part will take the form of an extension period when you will be under supervision while on licence in the community. The conditions of your licence will be set by Scottish Ministers. If you fail to comply with these conditions during the extension period your licence will be revoked and you may be returned to custody for a further period in respect of this indictment. The Court also has power to deal with you if you commit a further offence after your release from the custodial part of this sentence and while you are on licence and under supervision.

In the whole circumstances I now sentence you to an extended sentence of 18 years duration. The custodial part will comprise a period of 14 years. The extension period will be one of 4 years. This sentence will be backdated to the date of your conviction and remand into custody in this case, namely 17 March 2023.

Finally, you will henceforth be subject to the notification requirements contained in Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for an indefinite period.”

18 April 2023