A courageous woman who was the victim of an Edinburgh rapist has told of her ordeal when faced with the sex-attacker who gave her flowers just hours after he attacked her at a Pilton house party.
Kerry Malcolm, who has chosen to waive her anonymity, told the High Court in Edinburgh how she woke up to find Geroge Newby with his penis exposed as he tried to pin her down in bed. The 34-year-old who says she was heavily intoxicated managed to shout and push off her attacker before he rolled over and went to sleep.
The 32-year-old sex pest was thought of as a friend to the young mum and unbelievably gave her a bouquet of flowers after the attack. Newby was on bail at the time for raping a vulnerable young woman, and he was sentenced at Edinburgh’s High Court on Friday September 23 after being found guilty of two charges.
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He has been sent to jail for seven years and has also been put on the sex offenders register for an indefinite time. Kerry spoke with the Daily Record and told them that she is still impacted by the attempted rape which took place in Pilton in North Edinburgh in February 2021.
But she has said that she will remain resilient for her own daughter and other women. She said: “I didn’t think I was going to be believed but I reported it for my daughter. She’s coming up for nine and when she’s older, she’s going to be going out clubbing and things like that. You shouldn’t have to be scared when you’re going out.
“I can’t do that now. If I do, I’m constantly looking behind my back and whenever I see a ginger guy, I jump. I’ve not really coped since it happened. I’ve tried to kill myself three times. I was getting threats from people about this but I made it to court.”
Recalling that fateful evening, Kerry said: “I’ve known him for years, he’s always tried it on with me but I’ve always said no. I would have said he was a friend. I started feeling all dizzy and I went to lie down on a bed but I woke up with him on top of me.
“He had my hands pinned up above my head. I shouted ‘what the f***’ and I pushed him off me. He didn’t say anything. He just went to sleep. He gave me flowers after it because it was Valentine’s Day.
“I took them home because I was still under the influence and in shock but the police came and took them away. I managed to get a taxi home and I told my really good friend what had happened.
She told me to call the police, which I did. I gave them my clothes and I was taken up to the hospital for an examination.” In a direct message to Newby, Kerry said: “You’re sick and no woman deserves to be raped or sexually assaulted.”
Newby was found guilty of raping his first victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at a property in the Loganlea Road area of the captal on August 8, 2020. He repeatedly touched her on the breasts and buttocks, kissed her neck, and pinned her to the floor before performing a sex act on her after pulling at her clothing.
The brute then grabbed her by the neck and raped her to her injury. During his sentencing, the court was told that Newby posed a ‘high risk of sexual reoffending’ and had shown no insight into the effects of his crimes.
Defence counsel Gordon Jackson KC said that his client’s current partner of four years continued to be supportive of him and described him as “a total gentleman”.
But Lord Craig Sandison said: “You have been convicted of the rape of one woman and the attempted rape of another. Both of your victims were truly vulnerable.”
Detective Inspecto r McArthur-Kerr, of the Edinburgh Public Protection Unit, previously welcomed the rapist’s conviction. They said: “George Newby is a predatory and dangerous man who committed horrendous crimes against his two victims.
“It is thanks to the courage of the women who came forward that he has now been found guilty of these crimes and the cruelty of his behaviour has been exposed. I would like to commend them in their bravery throughout this investigation and trial.
“Hopefully the verdict today will help them moving forward.”
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