SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing, Lord Harrower told Covaci:

“Traian Covaci, you have been convicted of the rape and sexual assault of one woman (charge 2), and, while on bail in connection with that matter, of sexually assaulting another woman with intent to rape her (charge 3), and of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner in relation to the second woman and her husband (charge 4). 

I will refer to the two women as X and Y.

In 2022, X, aged 18, took a bus to Perth to celebrate Halloween.  She congregated with friends in Rodney Gardens, a public area where young people were known to socialise.  They played music, drank alcohol and made lanterns.  At some point she became detached from her friends and started chatting with you.  By this time, she was quite drunk.  Together with one of your friends, you lured her away from the safety of the public gardens, and dragged her into a close.  The two of you were touching her and trying to kiss her.  When she said, “Stop”, your friend left.  However, you remained, and having pinned her up against a wall, you carried out further acts of sexual assault, culminating in rape.  Her last image of you, while she was running away, was of you smirking at her. 

The remaining charges related to an incident that occurred over two years later, on 11 January 2025.  Y, aged 64, lived on the first floor of a block of flats.  Her 91-year-old mother lived in a separate flat on the same floor.  At about 7pm, Y had just taken her mother her tea.  Back in her own flat, she heard her mother’s door closing.  She knew there couldn’t be anyone visiting at that time, so went back to her mother’s flat to investigate.  She found you in the living room.  She asked you what you were doing, but you just smiled at her.   She took you by the arm and guided you towards the front door.  You tried to kiss her, but she turned her head, causing you to make contact with her cheek.  Twice you put your hand on the area of her vagina, outside her clothing, and told her you wanted to “f*ck” her.  Y’s husband intervened and indicated he was going to phone the police.  You knocked the mobile phone out of his hand, and, drawing your hand across your throat, said, “no police” and “I’ll kill you”.  Eventually, Y managed to usher you towards the common area of the lifts.  Y returned to her flat, badly shaken.  She told the court she felt dirty.

I am required to assess the seriousness of these offences by reference to your level of culpability and harm. 

Regarding culpability, the women you attacked were each vulnerable, in different ways.  X was a young woman, who was the worse for wear through drink.  You detained her for a prolonged period against her will.  Y was an older woman.  You attacked her following an uninvited entry into her mother’s flat.  Regarding harm, I am satisfied that both victims will have sustained profound psychological harm.  Each assault was particularly degrading and humiliating.  Although charge 4 is the least serious of the three charges, I do not underestimate the level of culpability and harm.  Your threats having been made just outside the complainers’ homes, they would have known that you knew where they lived. 

I have taken account of everything said on your behalf in mitigation. I take particular account of the fact that you were only 20 at the time of the offence in charge 2 and that, being still only 23 now, the sentencing young people guideline applies.  The sentence I am about to impose will therefore be shorter than that which would have been imposed on an older person for the same offences.  I accept also that you do not have a lengthy record of previous convictions, none of which is for sexual offending.  However, such is the seriousness of your offending in this case that a custodial sentence is inevitable. 

Traian Covaci, I am conscious that a decision will require to be made by others regarding whether you are to remain in this country.  However, I must proceed on the basis that you will.  Had I been imposing separate sentences in respect of each charge, I would have sentenced you as follows.  For charge 2, I would have imposed a sentence of imprisonment of 6 years.  For charge 3, I would have imposed a sentence of 3 years, of which 6 months would have been attributable to the bail aggravation.  For charge 4, I would have imposed a sentence of 1 year, of which 3 months would have been attributable to the bail aggravation.   

However, I have decided to impose a single in cumulo sentence in respect of all the charges against you.  In addition, taking the social worker’s assessment of risk into account, I am satisfied that the sentence imposed should be an extended sentence.  That is necessary in order to protect the public from serious harm from you when you are released.  The total period of that sentence will be 11 years, but it will be in two parts.  The first part, the custodial part, will be one of imprisonment for a period of 9 years, 6 months of which is attributable to the bail aggravation. The second part, known as the extension period, will be one of 2 years.  During that period, you will be subject to licence conditions to be set by or on behalf of the Scottish Ministers.  If you break the terms of your licence you will be liable to be recalled to custody to serve the remainder of your sentence.  The sentence will be backdated to 15 January 2025, when you were remanded in custody. 

Prior to your being remanded in custody, you were on bail in connection with charge 2 from 2 December 2022, and subject to electronic monitoring from 3 December 2022 until 15 January 2023, a period of 774 days.  You have been found to be in breach of your bail conditions on six separate occasions.  For the purposes of s210ZA of the 1995 Act, I shall specify the relevant period as 384 days, being one half of the qualifying bail period less the period of 6 days that I propose to disregard.  I therefore direct that you are to be treated as having served that part of the sentence amounting to 384 days. 

In addition, you will be subject to the notification provisions of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for an indefinite period. 

Finally, I shall make non-harassment orders, in terms of which you will not approach, contact, or attempt to approach or contact, in any way whatsoever, and either directly or indirectly, any of the complainers named in the charges on the indictment, those orders to subsist for an indefinite period.”

28 January 2026