A police officer who helped lead the investigation into the abduction, assault and rape of a 15-year-old school girl during a 32-hour ordeal in Fife has praised the “intelligence and foresight” of the victim.
In an interview with The Courier at the scene of the horrendous crimes, Detective Chief Inspector Michelle Johnson said that without the maturity and presence of mind of the girl to provide a detailed account of her horrific 32-hour ordeal, swift apprehension of the “depraved” perpetrator Mark Armstrong may not have been achieved, and other females may have been attacked.
DCI Johnson, who is in charge of Police Scotland Fife Division’s public protection unit, revealed that in 25 years of investigating rapes, child abuse and offender management, this was by far the “worst thing” she’d ever dealt with.
And she admitted that it was with surprise, and then relief, that the victim emerged from her horrific ordeal alive.
DCI Johnson, who was the on-call senior investigating officer alongside her police officer husband Davie the weekend of the girl’s disappearance, told The Courier: “It was a terrifying ordeal for her. However, she showed great maturity and resolve by being able to provide a detailed account which ultimately helped us identify him early doors and managing to secure his apprehension.
“I think right from the outset of the investigation we knew something wasn’t right. Obviously when the victim was found and we brought her back to the police station, over the course of the weekend we got her full account. It impacted greatly on officers. It was a very emotional investigation. Very raw. The atmosphere in the incident room that weekend touched every one of us. I know there were a few tears shed.”
At the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday, Armstrong was jailed for at least four years.
He abducted his 15-year-old victim as she walked home from school, threatened her with a knife and then repeatedly raped her.
Passing sentence, judge Lady Wise told 26-year-old Armstrong that his actions were “cruel, depraved and inhumane.”
She ordered him to be placed on a lifelong restriction order, imposed a punishment part of four years before he can apply for parole.
However she added: “There is no assumption or expectation you will be released then.”
Lady Wise told Armstrong he would remain in prison until he is no longer deemed a danger to the public.
The judge praised Armstrong’s schoolgirl victim saying “her bravery and resilience was quite remarkable” but added the long term consequences for her were unknown.
Defence counsel Michael Armstrong told the court that Armstrong had been smoking cannabis for the age of eight and drinking Buckfast at 10.
Mr Armstrong added: “He says that he deserves a long sentence. For what it is worth, and I recognise it may not be worth a lot, he articulates his regret at what has happened.”
The court heard that after abducting the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, Armstrong warned her he had a flick knife and would use it if she tried to escape or scream for help.
He strangled her and stripped her and subjected her to a brutal prolonged sex attack in the grounds of a derelict cottage.
He raped her as she lay in thorns, while she pleaded with him to stop.
Armstrong led the girl back to his home in Dunfermline in Fife and continued to subject her to sexual abuse and rape. The victim later said it happened “over and over again”.
Advocate depute Jane Farquharson, prosecuting, said: “The accused only spoke to tell her what to do, to shut up or stop shivering.”
“The victim describes feeling scared and increasingly angry and that she just wanted to go home.”
During the lengthy ordeal Armstrong also donned surgical gloves to wash her private parts and scrubbed her with a kitchen sponge. He also tried to get her to smoke cannabis.
At one stage he took her back to the scene of the original rape after saying she could go home, but instead of letting her go he took her back to his house to renew the sexual assaults.
The victim’s mother had reported her missing after searching for her daughter. Police who were searching the derelict cottage at Kingseat Road found the girl’s T-shirt, bra and broken glasses and informed her mother.
Miss Farquharson said: “At this stage or course, the complainer’s whereabouts were still unknown.”
Only hours later did unemployed Armstrong finally free his captive and return her phone. The girl later told police: “I just wanted to call my mum.”
The victim was able to describe a wheel at the entrance to Lochore Meadows country park and was reunited with her mother.
Miss Farquharson said her mother described seeing “a little figure standing next to the wheel”. She added: “It didn’t look like her daughter she said because it was so small.”
Police who arrived at the scene described seeing the mother hugging the girl who was “shaking, crying and occasionally howling”.
The victim had facial injuries that left her unrecognisable to officers from the photos of her they had been given in the missing person inquiry.
In her interview with The Courier, DCI Johnson echoed this bravery. She added: “I think the most important thing for us was she identified the location where she was held. That ultimately cracked the case. She doesn’t maybe appreciate this, but see the specific targeting of that address, it was a quick and speedy investigation process and ultimately his arrest. She ensured the safety of other potential victims. Because that was my fear that weekend.
“We had to get him quick. Because knowing now what he subjected her to, I was concerned he would go out and do that again. She’s to be commended actually. To find out she was alive that night, was one of disbelief and then absolute relief.
“She had the foresight to remember this, that and this, as she was being raped. She was very intelligent with the foresight to think ahead. She’s 15 but there are adults who wouldn’t have done what she did. She’s a one off. She got the urgency to get him off the streets and make sure he didn’t do it again. She’s a wee star.”
Armstrong, of Dunfermline, admitted abducting, assaulting and raping the girl between March 12 and 14 last year.
He also pled guilty to a string of assault and robbery offences committed against women in the Fife town in the days leading up to the attack on the teenager.
He showed no emotion as he was led away to begin his sentence.