Teen attacked six women and girls during months-long crime spree

A teenager who attacked girls and women during a months-long crime spree has been jailed for eight years after causing “horrific” harm to victims.

Calib McMurchie was aged just 16 when he began targeting victims in Edinburgh and East Lothian during a spate of offences of violence and sex crime.

McMurchie, now 19, had denied a series of charges during a trial but was found guilty of seven different crimes committed against six different victims.

McMurchie first struck on July 2, 2023, at a grassy area at Western Harbour Way, in Edinburgh, when he attacked a woman and robbed her of her handbag and its contents.

During the assault, he gripped the victim by the neck, punched her on the head, repeatedly kicked her on the head and struggled with her.

He then attempted to rape a 14-year-old girl at flats in Edinburgh on an occasion between September 1 and October 8 in 2023.

McMurchie then attacked a 12-year-old girl at Sainsbury’s store in Edinburgh on October 9, 2023, when he pinned her against a wall, grabbed her breast and touched her genitals.

He struck again on October 27, 2023, when he attacked a woman at Albion Terrace in the city and tried to grab her mobile phone from her hand. He struggled with her, pushed her to the ground and stamped on her hand to cause her severe injury during the robbery bid.

On January 10, 2024, he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl at a city centre hotel when he repeatedly touched her body and seized her breasts.

McMurchie carried out a further sexual assault with the intent to rape another victim when he attacked her at Prestonpans, in East Lothian, on April 2, 2024.

During the assault, he repeatedly touched her breasts, put an arm around her neck and applied pressure, restricting her breathing and causing her to lose consciousness.

He grabbed the victim by the hair, struck her head off the ground, and stole her mobile phone during the incident at a vennel near the High Street in Prestonpans.

A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh: “You were convicted by the jury of a number of very serious offences.”

Judge Thomas Welsh KC said the offending committed by McMurchie was “extremely grave”.

He said: “They included two separate predatory, violent muggings of women, who were strangers to you, at night when they were walking home through the streets of Edinburgh.

“You were also convicted of four serious sexual offences against young girls. One of those was a sexual assault with intent to rape and another with an attempt to rape.”

The judge pointed out that during one of the sex attacks, McMurchie compressed the victim’s throat and rendered her unconscious.

He said that he had read victim impact statements provided to the court and added that the harm caused by the teenage attacker to all of the women and girls has been horrific.

The judge said that reports of McMurchie prepared by a social worker and a forensic psychologist agreed that in future he would need to be closely monitored when released into the community.

He ordered that McMurchie should be under supervision for a further four-year period after he is freed and warned that if he re-offended during that time, he would be returned to prison.

Defence counsel Angela Gray, KC said: “The first thing I require to acknowledge is the offences he has been convicted are plainly very serious.”

The court heard that McMurchie has been diagnosed with ADHD, autism and has developmental issues.

She said McMurchie was aged 16 and 17 at the time of the offending, which took place when he was moved into independent accommodation. She said: “That was a change that he was completely unprepared for.”

Ms Gray said he suffered from adverse childhood experiences and added: “By April 2024, he had been the subject of 184 vulnerable persons database reports.”

The judge made non harassment orders banning McMurchie from contacting or attempting to contact the six victims and placed him on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

McMurchie’s sentence was backdated to 2024 when he was taken into custody.