The teenage victim of rapist Sean Hogg has hit out after the brute appealed his conviction despite receiving only community service for the sex attack. The girl, just 13 when she was raped by Hogg, is dismayed after his lawyers launched a bid to have the conviction quashed.
Hogg, 21, got a community sentence of 270 hours’ unpaid work and was only placed on the sex offenders register for three years, provoking fury from women’s rights campaigners, including author JK Rowling. Speaking to the Record, the victim said: “I’m wondering what was the point? I’m angry that he walked out of court a free man but still gets to appeal. He was convicted of raping me but didn’t go to jail and he’s still not happy.”
The victim and her family have also urged the Crown Office to appeal against the leniency of the sentence imposed on Hogg. The victim said: “Who do I appeal to if the Crown Office won’t act?” The victim’s gran said that, while Hogg and his lawyers were pressing ahead with their appeal, “nobody is telling my granddaughter what her rights are”.
She told of her disappointment and anger at the handling of her granddaughter’s case, adding: “Where are the answers from the Crown Office to tell us what went wrong, or what they’ll do next? Why not tell us you are definitely appealing?
“Their shameful treatment of my granddaughter is made even worse in that we are forced to find out from the media what is happening. They haven’t even bothered telling her what to do if he approaches her. The very least my granddaughter was entitled to from the Crown Office was some respect, some answers, rather than just ignoring her.”
She said she feared the case sent the wrong message to girls who were raped but urged them to continue to speak up, adding: “The judge got it wrong and something has to change but it won’t if people stop reporting. We can’t have young women like my granddaughter being raped and then receiving a life sentence, imprisoning her once more in her home, terrified to go out.”
The family’s lawyer Aamer Anwar said: “Mr Hogg is entitled to a right of appeal but my client is entitled to ask the Lord Advocate if she will appeal and ask does the Crown Office really put victims first? Each day I am asked if there has been a response to the questions I asked on her behalf and each day I have to say no, shattering the trust my client and her grandparents had in the Scottish justice system.”
The Crown Office confirmed yesterday it had not yet taken a decision on whether to appeal the non-custodial sentence imposed by Lord Lake under new sentencing guidelines. These prioritise rehabilitation over punishment for offenders up to age 25.
The Crown Office has 28 days from the date of the sentencing this month and must be able to argue that it was unduly lenient. Hogg’s lawyers must also pass a legal test of putting grounds to the appeal court that pass a “sift” before a hearing can be set.
Now 21, Hogg was 17 when he attacked his victim in Dalkeith, Midlothian. Judge Lord Lake said if Hogg had committed the crime when he was over 25, he would have given him a jail sentence of four or five years.
His victim, whose identity is protected, has told how the rape and sentence affected her. She said she was diagnosed with PTSD, suffered from panic attacks and self-harmed on a daily basis following the attacks.
She also said she had undergone three years of counselling. The teenager, now 18, said CCTV was fitted in her home so she could see who was coming to her street, and she would not leave the house without one of her grandparents.
She has suffered from anxiety and nightmares and has had relationship problems. The Crown Office said it was “considering whether there are grounds for lodging an appeal against this sentence and this has been communicated to the complainer. Once a decision has been reached we will advise the complainer of that decision”.
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