A traumatised victim of a rapist and child abuser has spoken out after he claimed he suffered from “sexsomnia” – a condition which made him unaware of what he was doing.
Vile lawyer Andrew Lingard is facing years in jail after being convicted last week of sexually abusing two schoolgirls and raping a woman.
He told the High Court in Livingston the historic sex offences were committed while he was suffering from the rare “sleep sex” disorder.
Now one of his victims has hit out at the defence and claimed it was only an excuse – used in other high-profile rape cases.
The victim, who we are not naming, said: “When the prosecution said last year that he was mentioning sexsomnia it was around the same time a man in Fife was acquitted of rape using the same defence.
“I think it was a pathetic excuse from a pathetic excuse of a man. I expected nothing less from him.”
The woman, now 36, added: “He was manipulative, controlling, smug, narcissistic with a God complex. He liked to control people and make them feel small and always made you feel like you weren’t good enough and you owed him something.
“He will never show remorse for what he has done, he will only care what the public think of him.”
Lingard’s offending only came to light after one of his young victims started self-harming years later and suffered a mental “meltdown” at horse stables where she was helping out.
The boss of the stables gave evidence that as she sobbed uncontrollably, he phoned her older sister, who was then told about the sexual abuse.
It then emerged Lingard had abused another of their sisters when she was also aged 12.
The oldest sister finally revealed he had also once raped her while she was asleep and continued having sex with her without her consent after she wakened.
After his crimes came to light, Lingard texted the woman saying: “God, I deserve all I have coming” and predicting he was going to spend “years and years in jail”.
The woman said Lingard’s abuse left her feeling “dead inside and dirty” and she feels “anguished” that he had access to the girls “because of me”. She added: “The guilt and shame will never leave me.
“He stole their innocence and broke the trust that anyone has. I will never forgive him for what he has done.
“Ultimately, I feel relieved and glad justice has been served and now people can see him for what he truly is.
“He is a danger to society and at least behind bars everyone is safe from him.”
Sandy Brindley, chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, said: “It can be extremely difficult to get justice after rape. Most cases never make it to court and of those that do rape has the lowest conviction rate of any crime type.
“We are very concerned about the rise of this type of defence, where men are claiming to have been asleep in the face of evidence that they raped someone.”
She added: “There is extensive research showing that juries can be reluctant to convict in rape cases, and we have seen men acquitted after using this supposed condition.
“The impact of this can be absolutely devastating.”
Lingard, who gave an address in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, was remanded in custody for reports.
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