Army officer who raped woman he met on dating app has sentence increased

An Army officer who raped a woman in her home after contacting her through an internet dating app had his jail sentence increased by appeal judges.

Royal Engineers captain Calum MacGregor, 30, was jailed for four and a half years earlier this year for attacking the 25-year-old woman at an address in Edinburgh.

But the Crown appealed against the punishment imposed on MacGregor and maintained that the sentencing judge erred in dealing with the “forceful, aggressive rape”.

The Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, told the appeal court in Edinburgh: “In my submission, it is a matter of great public importance that this appeal is advanced and considered.”

The Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Beckett, sitting with Lords Doherty and Armstrong, have now held that the sentence imposed on first offender MacGregor was unduly lenient and increased his jail term to six and a half years.

The senior judge said: “We do consider that there was significant personal mitigation in this case, but we also note that the respondent (MacGregor) being a successful army officer made it harder for the complainer successfully to resist his attack on her.”

The appeal judges said that sentencing in MacGregor’s case should have taken into account the offence occurring at her home, the offender’s persistence in the face of resistance, his use of force, significant and painful injury to the victim, and different forms of sexual assault.

Lord Beckett said the trial judge had misdirected herself in assessing harm caused as being “at the lower end of the scale”.

He said: “In this case, the complainer could not work for six months because of poor mental health with loss of earnings and was diagnosed with PTSD.

“She became afraid of crowded places and being in public, leading to isolation and disengagement from previous activities.”

“Even three years later, she remained afraid of the dark, had difficulty sleeping because of distressing flashbacks, and continued to receive intensive psychological therapy.

“We cannot accept that this was harm at the lower end of the scale. It can reasonably be considered severe psychological damage,” said the judge.

Lord Beckett said: “We did not consider that the mere fact that the complainer and respondent met through an online dating platform indicated a higher sentence than would otherwise be appropriate.”

“Today, huge numbers of people, especially young people, contact each other using such platforms.

“Nevertheless, in light of what happened in this case, it is important to spell out the law on consent to those who use dating services, and particularly sites promoting an expectation of sexual activity,” said the senior judge.

“Everyone is entitled to choose what happens to their own body. The complainer was free to choose whether or not to engage in sexual activity. She consented only to kissing and no more. Unless she gave consent to it, meaning free agreement, any other sexual activity was criminal,” said Lord Beckett.

Former St Andrews University student MacGregor met the woman, who was 25 at the time, through the dating site Hinge. He denied raping her on December 14, 2021 during his earlier trial.

But he was convicted of physically assaulting and raping her and was placed on the sex offenders’ register.