SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing, Lord Harrower said: 

"Riley Kirk, on 26 May 2025, at the High Court in Edinburgh, you were found guilty of 6 charges of rape and sexual assault against four victims, aged 14, 17, 17, and 16.  You committed these crimes during a period between 19 October 2019, when you were just 14 years’ old, and 29 January 2023, when you were 3 days shy of your 18^th birthday. You are still only 20. I have taken your youth and immaturity into account when assessing culpability, just as I do your victims’ youth and immaturity when assessing harm.

I have been provided with victim impact statements from three of the young women you raped.  They explain the significant effect which your attacks have had on their mental health, their education and employment, and ultimately their hopes for the future. It is a reasonable assumption that your other victim will have suffered similar harm.

The circumstances of your offending involved several aggravating factors.  You offended repeatedly against the first three victims. You were on bail at the time you raped your fourth victim.  Your offences against one of your victims are aggravated by reason that they involved abuse of your partner.  You raped two of your victims while they were asleep. In each case, when challenged, you responded by claiming that you must have been asleep yourself.  

In addition, the social worker has highlighted aspects of your offending that suggest a high level of planning.  These include the use of social media to facilitate offline harmful sexual behaviour, and the deployment of strategies to be alone with your victims in order to avoid being disturbed and to ensure your offending would go unnoticed. 

The Sentencing Young Persons guideline is an important consideration.  I consider that you were an emotionally immature young man at the time of these offences.  I have also taken account of the various mental health difficulties from which you claim to have been suffering, although, given your continued denial, it is difficult to say what part these difficulties may have played in your offending.  None of this excuses your crimes.  Nor will it help the young women you have harmed.  But it is important to acknowledge that what you did as an immature teenager is less blameworthy than if you had carried out these acts as an older man. Rehabilitation is also an important consideration.  For these reasons, the period of time which you will spend in detention for these offences will be shorter than if you were an older man sentenced for the same offences.

Had I been sentencing you in respect of each the offences separately, I would have sentenced you to the following periods of detention:

Charge 5: 3 years

Charge 6: 6 months.

Charge 7: 3 years, of which 3 months would be attributed to the aggravation of partner abuse

Charge 8:  4 years, of which 3 months would be attributed to the aggravation of partner abuse

Charge 14: 4 years

Charge 17: 4 years and 6 months, of which 3 months would be attributed to the bail aggravation

The total period of 19 years would be excessive.  I propose instead to impose a single cumulo sentence upon you in relation to all the charges.  In addition, however, I consider that there is an unacceptable risk that, on your release from detention, the standard licence arrangements will be inadequate to protect the public, primarily young women, from serious harm caused by you.  I have formed the opinion that you are likely to present such a risk to the public for a number of reasons. The social worker, in her report, considers that you have invested too much in your denial of these offences to be able to accept responsibility for them.   She states that, until you address the reasons for your behaviour, the risk of sexual re-offending will remain. In particular, it is very concerning that, even after you were placed on bail, you carried out a further rape of a vulnerable 16 year old you hardly knew. 

The sentence which I am going to impose is known as an extended sentence. It is in two parts. The first part of the sentence is the period of detention which you will serve initially in a young offenders’ institution. The second part is the extension part when you will be on licence and under supervision in the community. When you are serving the extended period in the community, you will be subject to licence conditions fixed by the 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.

In all the circumstances, I sentence you on all charges to an extended sentence of 11 years comprising a period of detention of 8 years and an extension period of 3 years.  In relation to the period of detention, 2 months of that period is attributed to the partner abuse aggravations in charges 7 and 8, and 2 months is attributed to the bail aggravation in charge 14. The sentence is backdated to 26 May 2025.

As a result of your conviction and the sentence imposed, you are subject to the notification requirements under Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for an indefinite period.

I will also make a non-harassment order such that you may not contact, approach or communicate with the complainers, or attempt to contact, approach or communicate with any of them, either directly or indirectly, for an indefinite period."