One of the women attacked by serial Angus rapist Logan Doig has revealed she was never personally told of his arrest.
Jennifer McCann, 23, appeared before MSPs in Edinburgh who are probing new legislation intended to improve the justice system victims and witnesses.
Doig, who attacked five different women between 2015 and 2020, was caged for nine-and-a-half years in 2023.
MSPs on the Criminal Justice Committee heard that victims in rape and sexual assault cases are made to feel like pieces of evidence.
Ms McCann explained her traumatic experience alongside Hannah McLaughlan, 25, from Fife, another woman attacked by Doig, who was said to have carried out his first attack aged 14.
Doig was convicted for attacks on five women in total, four of whom waived their anonymity to plead for a change in how the system operated.
Asked about proposals to provide legal advice to complainants in sex offence cases, Ms McCann said a consistent point of contact was crucial.
‘I am actually still waiting on a phone call’
She said: “In our case I had a different police officer for the four other girls involved. We all had different levels of contact with the [Victim Information and Advice officer].
“We actually relied on each other to let us know what was happening with the case. I am actually still waiting on a phone call to let me know that my rapist has been arrested.
“We’ve now gone through court. He’s been sentenced and I’m still waiting on that phone call.”
The legislation includes controversial proposals for special sexual offences courts and judge-only trials.
Ms McCann – who first met Doig in 2018 at Dundee & Angus College as a 17-year-old – told MSPs she was “on the fence” about this idea.
She said: “I sit on the fence, not because I don’t think it’s a good idea but because I’m aware of time constraints.
Victim concerns over bias in judge-only trials
“If you think you have 25 courts and that’s stripped down to two that are specialised, the amount of rapes we see every year, that is quickly going to build up a backlog.”
She said she had concerns about potential bias in judge only trials.
“I think it should be a specialised jury.
“It’s not so much that there is a jury, it’s that you’re taking 12 to 15 random members of the public and told them to decide what to do with someone’s life.
“Are they really equipped to decide if you’ve been raped based on how you act in a courtroom over a couple of hours?”
Ms McCann read out the testimony of friend Hannah Reid, 24, from Forfar, who was also raped by Doig and testified against him in court.
The evidence will be debated by MSPs on the committee who are debating the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill before reporting back to parliament.
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