SENTENCING STATEMENTS

Upon sentencing, Judge Stirling made the following remarks:

"Christopher James Malcolm, on 16 June 2026, at the High Court in Edinburgh you were unanimously found guilty after trial of raping and indecently assaulting three of your former partners.  You were unanimously found guilty of assaulting each of these women and a fourth former partner on various occasions to their injury, with the jury finding that the assaults were to the danger of life of three or your partners.  You were found unanimously guilty of abuse charges, the abuse taking place on various occasions, in respect of the latter three complainers.  Your offending against the first complainer took place between 2008 and 2009.  The offending against the second complainer was in 2011.  The offending against the third complainer was from 2018 – 2023.  The offending against the fourth complainer was from 2023 – 2024. 

"You were 19 years old at the start of your offending.  You are now 37 years old. 

"You have previous convictions.  You have a conviction for a domestic assault to injury in 2009, in respect of which a community service order was imposed.  You have an earlier conviction for assault too, for which you were admonished.  You have a conviction for behaving in a threatening and abusive manner in 2017, for which you were admonished.  You also have a conviction for having sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 15 when you appear to have been in your 20s, and you received a community payback order requiring you to undertake 120 hours unpaid work in the community.  You also have convictions for road traffic offending. 

"I note from the Criminal Justice Social Work Report that you have very little memory of the relationship with the first complainer and no memory of any incidents relating to her other than your assault on her in 2009. 

"You thought the relationship with the second complainer was normal, and continue to deny coercive controlling behaviour towards her. 

"You describe yourself as becoming a 'control freak' and wanting to dictate the third complainer’s life after your child was born.  You minimise the violence towards that complainer and do not accept that your child would have been affected by your behaviour. 

"You accept that you and the fourth complainer had arguments which became violent, and she 'came off worse' due to your size and build. 

"I also note from the report that while you said that you initially believed all your sexual interactions with each partner were consensual, you have reflected and now think they might have felt pressed into sexual activity due to concerns about the repercussions if they were to say no. 

"The report also tells me that you were brought up by your parents alongside your younger brother.  You had a very positive upbringing and a close relationship with your parents.  You have a close relationship with your extended family and have several friends.  They all visited you while on remand. 

"You enjoyed school and obtained standard grades.  You have had various jobs, mainly involving cars. 

"You were seriously assaulted around the age of 15 by unknown others who were about the same age as you.  You suffered a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain.  You have anxiety in relation to others coming to harm you following the assault, and this may make you irritable and angry. 

"The RM2000 risk assessment indicates an average risk of sexual re-offending.  The Stable 2007 assessment places you in the moderate risk category.  The combined scores suggest that you are at above average risk.  The SARA risk assessment indicates an entrenched pattern of domestic offending over multiple relationships and highlights that your abuse was chronic and severe intimate partner violence. 

"I have had regard to the very detailed victim impact statements prepared by the fourth complainer dated 17 August 2025 and the third complainer which appears to have been prepared very recently.  They are both courageous, articulate women who are able to set out the effect of your crimes against them at the time they committed, and the ongoing effects on their lives. 

"I have taken into account everything said by Mr McConnachie KC today. 

"Custody is the only appropriate disposal, having regard to the serious nature of your offending. 

"I am also satisfied, having considered the terms of the report, that the terms of an ordinary licence will not be sufficient to protect the public, particularly women, from you on your release. 

"In the circumstances, I am going to impose on you a sentence which is in two parts. 

"The effect of the sentence is as follows.  The first part, the custodial element, will be one of imprisonment for 16 years.  That will not be the end of your sentence because when you are released the second part of the sentence will come into play.

"That part, known as the extension period, will be one of 3 years.  During that period you will be subject to the conditions of a licence set by the Scottish Ministers and any breach of the conditions could see you liable to be returned to prison to serve the remainder of the sentence.  So the effect of the sentence is an extended sentence of 19 years of which the custodial part is 16 years and the extension part is 3 years. 

"The breakdown of the sentence is as follows: 

"The sexual offences charges 4, 5, 11, 16 and 17

"a cumulo extended sentence of 15 years, comprising 12 years custody with a three year extension of which 12 months of the custodial element is attributable to the domestic aggravations on charges 11, 16 and 17. 

"The assault charges 1, 7, 10 and 15

"a cumulo sentence of 4 years imprisonment.  This period of imprisonment is to run consecutively to the custodial element of the extended sentence imposed on charges 4, 5, 11, 16 and 17.  I have not attributed any part of this custodial term to the domestic aggravations on charges 10 and 15.  The reason for this is that I have taken into account the domestic aggravations when selecting the sentence on the sexual offences charges. 

"The abuse charges 6, 8, 9 and 14

"a cumulo sentence of 2 years and 9 months imprisonment, to run concurrently with the other sentences having regard to the totality of the sentences imposed today.  9 months of that sentence is attributable to child aggravations on charges 9 and 14.  Again I have already taken the domestic aggravations into account when selecting the sentence on the sexual offences charges and do not attribute any part of the sentence on these charges to the domestic aggravations. 

 "The custodial element of the extended sentence will be backdated to 9 September 2024 when you appeared in court on petition and were remanded in custody. 

 "As a result of this sentence you will be subject to the notification requirements for an indefinite period. 

"Your name has already been intimated to the Scottish Ministers for addition to the list of persons deemed unsuitable to work with vulnerable groups. 

"I am also going to impose on you non-harassment orders preventing you from approaching or contacting the first, second and fourth complainers for an indefinite period.  In respect of the third complainer the non-harassment order will again be for an indefinite period, but because you have a child together, the terms will be as follows:  that you do not approach or contact or attempt to approach or contact the third complainer in any way, except for engaging in litigation, or any social work proceedings, relating to pursuing or defending orders in relation to your child, or for implementing any court or social work order relating to the child, any such contact on your behalf to be indirect contact via solicitors or other professionals involved with the child, and in the case of the third complainer, any such indirect contact may be through any third party nominated by herself. 

"The reasons for this sentence include punishment, expressing society’s concern about and disapproval of your offending, protection of the public, and rehabilitation in a custodial setting."

 17 July 2026