Earlier this month, Perthshire rapist Ruaraidh McCartney was sentenced to eight years in prison for raping three women.
One of his victims, Carrie Davidson, has waived her right to anonymity to highlight justice system failures that meant McCartney was sentenced to just 18 months in prison for a brutal attack he perpetrated against her.
Speaking to the Sunday Post, Ms Davidson describes an eight-year relationship with McCartney that was characterised by his violent outbursts, controlling behaviour and sexual violence.
In September 2016, Ms Davidson decided she had “had enough’” of his abusive behaviour and tried to end the relationship.
This can be the point of the most acute danger for women and children experiencing domestic abuse.
Which is why the question “why doesn’t she just leave?” is so misguided.
It so often isn’t simple – or safe – to “just leave” an abusive man.
McCartney responded as so many domestic abusers do when they can feel their control on their victim slipping away: he violently attacked her.
He headbutted her in the face and broke her nose, beat her, and choked her to the point of unconsciousness.
Carrie Davidson says she feared she would die from the attack. Her mum phoned the police after becoming concerned for her welfare and McCartney was apprehended by the police.
Initially – and understandably – she didn’t initially feel able to tell the police about the incidents of rape she had experienced.
When she did, she found out that McCartney had plead guilty to domestic violence charges and says police made no moves to also prosecute the incidents of sexual violence.
She told the Sunday Post: “For beating me within an inch of my life eight years ago, McCartney was sentenced to just 18 months in jail.
She says that legislation “designed to protect children being stigmatised by crime committed when they are not old enough to understand is allowing monsters like McCartney to play the system.”
“Politicians must look again at the new age guidance introduced last year so serious crimes like rape and high-level violence are excluded from the under-25 rule that attracts lesser sentences’’ she said.
The guidelines, which came into effect in 2022 say that rehabilitation of offenders should be a “primary consideration’” when sentencing under 25s.
However well-intentioned the guidelines are, something has gone badly wrong when a man can subject a woman to extreme violence and face no greater punishment than a slap on the wrist.
Domestic abuse isn’t a youthful indiscretion. It is a pattern of controlling, threatening and sometimes, but not always, violent behaviour.
It isn’t something you grow out of as you become older and wiser.
Carrie says that if McCartney had served an appropriate sentence for the rape and domestic abuse he perpetrated against her, he might not have been able to go on to harm his other two victims.
McCartney met his second victim when he was out on a tag.
She says when she thinks of that, she sometimes weeps in “anger and frustration”.
It shouldn’t take the remarkable bravery of a woman like Carrie Davidson to speak out about the danger in giving soft-touch sentences to violent men.
It should be common sense.
Scotland has a long and inglorious history with domestic abuse and violence against women not being taken as seriously as it should be.
We’ve come a long way, but not nearly far enough.
Scottish crime statistics show there were 2,411 rapes in 2022/23 – the highest level on record. Given the historically low reporting rates of rape, these figures are likely to be a significant underestimate.
64,807 incidents of domestic abuse were recorded by police in 2021/2022.
Prison should be a place for the punishment and, where possible, the rehabilitation of offenders.
But it should also work as a deterrent.
Short prison terms for men who abuse and terrorise women are not only insulting, they are dangerous too.
Kirsty’s stint as a Galway Girl
This week’s column comes to you direct from Ireland, where I am currently living my best life.
It has been on my must-visit list for at least a decade and it has more than lived up to the hype. My boyfriend and I are on our way to a little hut in Galway today, which boasts a cold outdoor shower and a compost toilet that might test our relationship to its limits.
I’ve eaten my bodyweight in Tayto. I’ve bathed in Irish butter. It’s the greenest country I’ve ever seen.
The elderly publican of a local pub we’ve frequented the last couple of nights has the twinkliest demeanour and most gorgeous accent I’ve ever encountered.
I’ve taken to gazing at him across the bar in an alarmingly intense way and I fear that if we stay here much longer he might think I’m giving him the glad eye. Beautiful country, brilliant people. I might not come home.
If you, or someone you know, have been affected by any issues raised in this article, support and information is available from Rape Crisis Scotland.
Samaritans can also be contacted – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
