SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing Lady Ross made the following remarks in court:

"Robert Wilson.  On 29 April 2026, you were convicted on two charges.  The first charge was a charge of rape.  You had sex with a woman without her consent.  This happened more than once.  She didn’t want to have sex.  But you made her do it.  You forced her to do it.  You touched her sexually and you raped her.  This was a person whom you knew.   She trusted you.  You took advantage of her.  You took what you wanted.  You wanted sex.  She didn’t.  That is rape.  That was a horrible thing that you did.  You have caused her real harm.

That offence happened in 2013.  That is quite a long time ago, but that is not the end of the crimes that you have committed.  More recently, over a period of about 6 months in 2022 and 2023, you worked in a care home.  You were supposed to look after and to care for the elderly residents.  That was your job.  But, again, you took advantage.  You were supposed to be a trustworthy person, but what you did was a terrible breach of trust.  One of the residents was a lady for whom you had responsibilities as a carer.  She had serious health problems.  

You kissed her, you touched her sexually.  You have accepted that you might have overstepped the boundaries.  Let me tell you that it was way worse than that.  You sexually assaulted her.  You should just have been washing and dressing her, but you took what you wanted.  You abused her.  She was fully conscious of what you were doing.  The court also heard about the text messages you sent to this resident.  You tried to make her keep your quite disgusting secret.  Fortunately, this lady had close family who were concerned about her and your crimes came to light.  You maintained that this kissing was consensual.  It was nothing of the kind, and your suggestion is as offensive as it is absurd.

Very often, it is hard for people to make a decision to move to a care home, and it is hard, too, for their family members.  What should make it easier is the knowledge that there are caring, professional staff.  For this lady and her family, you are their worst nightmare.

The consequences for this woman of your offences were profoundly traumatic.  You made her suffer terribly.  She was scared of you and that fear stayed with her until she died.  I have read the eloquent accounts provided by her children and it is clear to me that the effects of your offending have been devastating.

You are now 53 years old.  You have one previous conviction, a road traffic offence a long time ago, and that is of no significance.  You have had to deal with real problems of your own, especially with learning difficulties.  You have difficulties with understanding things, but you are indeed able to understand that the things that you did were serious crimes.  You still don’t accept that you did these things.  You have shown no remorse.  I have taken into account everything in the criminal justice social work report and I have listened carefully to everything that Mr Tait has said on your behalf.  You will need to face up to what you have done.  There will be support for you in prison to help you learn and you must make the best of that – you need to see that when it comes to sex you cannot just take what you want.

I am concerned about the risk that you will present in the future.  The complainers here were two women, who, in different ways, were very vulnerable.  You planned what you did.  There is a risk that you might do something like that again.

For that reason, I am satisfied that I need to impose an extended sentence. 

Your sentence is in two parts.  I will deal first with the custodial part.  This will be an immediate period in prison.

Had I been imposing sentences in respect of each of the charges separately, I would have done that in the following way.

In respect of charge 1, rape, I would have imposed a sentence of imprisonment for 7 years.

In respect of charge 4, sexual assault, I would have imposed a sentence of imprisonment for 3 years.

Were these sentences to be served separately, the total would be too much.  I will impose a single sentence covering all of these charges together, that is in cumulo.  This is for the first part, the custodial part, of your sentence.  That will be for a period of 8 years.

That will not be the end of your sentence.  As I have already mentioned, there will be an extension period.  Mr Tait has told me that he has already explained this to you, but I need to spell this out.  The second part of your sentence will be served in the community.  From the date of your release, you will be under licence for an extension period of 3 years.  The conditions of your licence will be fixed by the Scottish Ministers.  If, during this extension period, you do not 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 case.  The court also has power to deal with you if you commit another offence after your release and while you are on licence.  The total length of your sentence is 11 years.  It will be backdated to 29 April 2026, that being the date when you were remanded in custody. 

 At the end of the trial, I stated that you would be subject to the notification requirements in terms of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.  That will be for an indefinite period.  I also directed that notification be made to the Scottish Ministers in terms of the relevant provisions of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act.

 Whilst the administration of these measures will be a matter for others, I expect the practical reality to be that you will not have any formal role with caring responsibilities ever again.

Finally, I make a non-harassment order in relation to [the complainer in charge 1].  You must not contact her, communicate with her or approach her, or attempt to do any of those things.  That order will be in place indefinitely.