SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing, Judge Pattison told Russell:

“You have been brought back here for sentencing because of the serious nature of your offending and because you have not served a sentence of imprisonment before – this latter fact meant that I needed the social work report and risk assessment which I now have and which was drafted with your co-operation.

I have listened carefully to all that your counsel has said on your behalf today – I have given careful consideration to his helpful submissions together with the evidence the jury accepted at trial, the social work report with risk assessment, your limited record and the victim impact statements from the three complainers.

You were convicted of charges one, two, three, four, five and seven on the indictment – variously of stalking; of breaching section 1 of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018; and two charges of rape, one occurring on various many occasions against the first complainer (so we are talking of multiple rapes within that relationship) and one charge of the anal rape of the third complainer.

The evidence told a story of control and abuse.

You controlled women you were in relationship with – all of this deriving from your own insecurities and need to be in control. You abused them psychologically, physically and sexually throughout the relationships. You manipulated them by saying abusive and demeaning things to them.

In relation to the first complainer you repeatedly contacted her – controlled and monitored her movements, her social media accounts, you acted aggressively towards her and shouted at her, threatened to harm yourself to manipulate her, emotionally manipulated her into having sex, attended at her workplace and criticised her appearance and made her wear clothing you approved of, you attempted to force her to return from her holiday and flooded her with messages and calls when she was away; and then on various occasions over a two-year period you raped her. Rape was a feature of the relationship – you took sex from her when you felt like it irrespective even when she said no, the jury have put beyond doubt that this was not reluctantly given consent – it was simply a lack of consent. You would never take no for an answer even when sex for her was painful due to a medical condition. This is and was rape.

In her impact statement the first complainer states she was changed by your behaviour towards her; she feels anxious in everyday life and social situations; she became isolated in her life and at work; the impact was so great she had to stop studying for a degree. She often feels overwhelmed and panicked

She has difficulties in relationships, became withdrawn and quiet and will never be able to forget the pain you caused within the relationship

The second complainer spoke to similar behaviours and to you repeatedly contacting and messaging her, to you controlling and monitoring her behaviour, controlling where she went and with whom and her appearance, repeatedly attending at her house and refusing to return her belongings.

The third complainer spoke to the relationship starting well but to it deteriorating due to your controlling and abusive behaviours – which are similar to those I have narrated with regard to the other complainers but also included: that you would lock yourself in a bathroom and self-harm – essentially to manipulate her get your own way, inducing her to move in with you and insisting on attending social events with her; you were also convicted of her anal rape – this happened on one occasion when you were in bed together and she had said no but you inserted your penis in her anus anyway. She said no again and told you to stop and you did. But you had started completely without her consent.

In her impact statement she speaks to losing confidence and to feeling unsafe. She believes your actions will impact her psychologically for the rest of her life, and she will never be able to forget the trauma that you put her through.

This was your fault. Let that be clear. Your offending has had devastating lifelong consequences for these brave women.

I note that you continue to deny the offences and are unwilling to accept responsibility. The social work report concludes that your stance of denial makes accurate assessment and management of risk difficult.

Turning now to that report and risk assessment the writer states that there is a risk of further analogous offending and a requirement for public protection, and that you may therefore benefit from an extended sentence to allow a period of supervision in the community following a custodial sentence. This would include an element of rehabilitation which would aim to reduce the risk of further offending.

I have assessed your culpability is high and the harm you caused was clearly significant and lifelong and there is little to no mitigation. Your offending is aggravated by its persistence and by the domestic context.

Given the seriousness of your offending, its prolonged nature and the impact on your victims a lengthy custodial sentence is inevitable.

The focus of sentencing is punishment and deterrence and rehabilitation where possible. The latter can only be addressed in the context of an extended sentence or supervised release order; your counsel made a strong argument against an extended sentence but after careful consideration I am satisfied that the normal period of licence would not be adequate for the purpose of protecting the public from serious harm upon your release. You pose a risk of serious harm to women and particularly those with whom you are in a relationship. This assessment is based on the terms of the report when taken together with the nature and seriousness of your offending.

The case was presented by the Crown as a course of conduct and it seems clear that the jury accepted that you engaged in a course of domestic and sexual abuse and controlling behaviour and I will reflect that in sentencing by imposing an in cumulo sentence on the indictment as a whole as opposed to individual sentences on each charge.

I will impose an extended sentence of 11 years on the indictment in cumulo.

This sentence has two parts – a custodial period of 9 years of which 6 months is attributable to the statutory aggravations on charges one and three. This custodial part will be backdated to the date of your remand on 17 March 2025.

This custodial part will be followed by an extension period of 2 years to protect the public and to help you reintegrate into society with supervision post custody. The conditions of your licence will be fixed by Scottish Ministers. If during the extension period you fail to comply with the conditions of your licence, it may be revoked and you may be returned to custody for a further period in respect of this indictment. 

For legal reasons I require to explain that had I been imposing individual sentences on the charges they would have been:

1 year’s imprisonment on charge 1; 1 year’s imprisonment on charge 2; 5 years on charge 3;

6 months on charge 4; 1 year on charge 5 and  5 years on charge 7.

This would have been 12 years and 6 months and disproportionate overall; the in cumulo sentence I impose means that you will instead serve 9 years in custody.

I will also make non harassment orders in terms of 234A of the Criminal Procedure Scotland Act 1995:

In relation to the first and third complainers – these orders will state that you must not approach or contact either of them or attempt to approach or contact them for an indefinite period. The order in relation to the second complainer will be the same but for a period of 20 years. any breach will result in your arrest and potentially further additional periods of imprisonment.

I have previously directed the clerk of court to intimate details of your convictions to the Scottish Ministers in terms of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007.

In terms of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, I am required to state again that you have been convicted of sexual offences to which Part 2 of that Act applies.

You will be subject to the notification requirements contained in the Act for an indefinite period.

The Court has certified those facts and the Clerk of Court will shortly give you a copy of that certificate together with a notice which gives further details of the notification requirements with which you must comply.”

7 April 2025