Rapist who abducted 15-year-old girl escaped custody at Edinburgh High Court

A man who abducted a teenager and forced her into an Edinburgh basement, where he raped her, has been traced after he escaped custody before being jailed.

Violent criminal Aaron Strachan stalked his victim in Edinburgh before he pulled a knife on her and marched her through the streets in the early hours of the morning to the place he had chosen to rape her.

He was due at High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday to be sentenced but managed to escape whilst being transported by GEOAmey to a nearby vehicle.

An investigation into the circumstances is ongoing

Police Scotland has since confirmed that Strachan was traced nearby. The Scottish Prison Service has been returned to custody.

A spokesperson said: “Around 11.15am on Tuesday, January 13, we were made aware of a man escaping from custody at the High Court in Edinburgh.

“Officers attended and the 21-year-old man was traced nearby.”

A judge has described Strachan as being like a “wild animal stalking its prey”.

‘Stuff of nightmares’

At the High Court in Edinburgh Judge Michael O’Grady KC said the abduction and rape was “the stuff of nightmares for every woman, every young girl and every parent who waits at home for their child to return safely”.

Mr O’Grady added: “The comparison with a wild animal stalking its prey is inevitable. By chance or design, you came across your victim.

“You would have seen that she was alone, utterly vulnerable and that she was very young.

“Nonetheless, she instinctively knew she had become a target and, no doubt, instinctively knew why. She tried to escape from your attentions and probably thought she had. And then, as with all predators, you chose a time and place to pounce,” he said.

The judge said: “What followed was truly horrific. You seized her. You produced a knife. You covered her mouth, and you dragged her to your lair.

“Her terror can barely be imagined, because with each step she must have feared, indeed, she must have known, what was to come. And what was to come was totally depraved and utterly wicked,” he said.

Advocate depute Chris McKenna told the court that the 15-year-old girl had spent the evening at a friend’s home. She left and walked along Lothian Road to a bus stop, where she waited for a bus.

Strachan, who was wearing a balaclava, sat down beside her, leaving her feeling uneasy. The prosecutor said: “She chose to walk on to keep herself safe and increased her walking pace to be closer to a woman who was ahead of her.

“She stayed close until the woman turned left towards Shandwick Place, and she turned right along Princes Street. As she walked, she continued to feel unease and often looked over her shoulder for the accused, but could not see him.”

The teenager stopped at a bus stop outside the Marks and Spencer store on Princes Street, but Strachan ran towards it and came to the bus stop. He walked up to her and stood in front of her, demanded her phone and warned: “Don’t scream.”

He brought out a knife and threatened her with violence. He then grabbed her by the shoulders and began marching her towards York Place, frequently covering her eyes.

Once there, he forced her down a set of steps. Mr McKenna said: “She could see a doorway to a basement and over it a broken door and wooden crates, large and square in shape. He directed her into the space in a gap by the side of the pallets. He followed and pulled the pallets across the door to prevent her from leaving. She was terrified.”

The prosecutor said the teenager found herself in a rubbish-strewn room with a makeshift bed, with a mattress and sheets.

Mr McKenna said: “He instructed her to get onto the mattress and dragged the knife down the wall. This increased her terror. He was whispering and muttering to himself, which increased the sense of dread.”

Strachan then subjected her to a rape ordeal. The advocate depute said: “She pleaded with him to let her go, but he ignored her. He told her he would not stop ‘until it’s done’.”

After the sex attack, Strachan left but then returned with bags and told the girl to put all the bedding in them and leave. He walked her to nearby bins and told her to dump the bags in them.

Before leaving the teenager, Strachan told her: “Don’t tell anyone.” He warned that if she did, he would find her and hurt her.

The girl arrived home, and her mother asked why she was home so early, as she was supposed to be at a sleepover. She later disclosed that she had been raped, that a man had grabbed her, he had a mask and a knife and told her that if she tried to run, he could run faster and would catch her.

She said he had forced her to show him her bus pass so he knew her name and could find her. Mr McKenna said: “She was sobbing in the foetal position. Her mother decided to take her to the hospital, and the police were contacted.”

Detectives carried out a search in Edinburgh’s New Town to find the site of the rape attack, which led them to the basement in York Place. Strachan’s DNA and that from the girl were found on a sheet and in the dumped bags.

Days later, Strachan was spotted by police in the Dalry area of Edinburgh, and after he ran off, was found hiding behind shrubbery. During an interview, he denied being in possession of a knife or raping the victim.

Strachan, who has previous convictions for assault and possession of weapons, such as a knife and hammer, admitted abducting and raping the teenager on May 25 this year, when he appeared via a video link to prison at the High Court on Thursday.

He also admitted two further serious assault charges, attacking one man with a knife and another with a claw hammer.