Chatted to his girlfriend while raping me!
Brutal rapist McPherson had a history of rape
Thursday 13th November 2008
Most couples, when they manage to get a babysitter for the night, go out and paint the town red. Not me and my boyfriend, David Campbell.We were actually staying in and painting the living room instead.Our 2-year-old daughter, Amy-Lee, was with David's mum, Ann, so we were taking the opportunity to decorate our new house. By 3am, we were done and I was starving.
'I fancy a burger,' I told David, 'I'll nip to the 24-hour McDonalds.'
I know. Going out on your own at that time of night may seem reckless, but I'd lived in Coatbridge all my life and knew everyone who lived nearby. Which is why, when someone grabbed my ponytail as I headed home with the burgers, I assumed it was a mate messing about.
Until I felt a jagged blade push against my throat and heard a voice snarl: 'Get in the car…'
I could hear the blood rushing through my ears as I was marched towards a red car parked nearby. That's when I got my first look at the man. He was ugly with messy brown hair and wild eyes. A thought pierced through the terror. Befriend him. Then he won't hurt you.
'What's this about?' I asked.
'Shut up,' he snapped. 'You'll find out soon.'
We must have been going 100mph as we tore through the back streets towards nearby Airdrie. Houses flashed past as he gunned the car forward. Trembling, I slowly edged my hand toward the door handle. If I could just open it…
Without saying a word, the man stuck the tip of the knife in my side. I was trapped. As we got further from town, he started swigging on a bottle of Buckfast wine, then passed it to me. I pretended to take a swig. I didn't want to make him angry by refusing. Moments later, we swerved off the road onto a patch of wasteland in the middle of nowhere. Oh dear God…
He dragged me out the car so hard, I felt my wrist snap. A searing pain shot up my arm and I fell down.
'Get up,' he demanded.
But the pain was so bad, I couldn't.
His face was twisted in rage as he lashed out at me, dragging me along, face down through the soaking mud. I started to shake uncontrollably. That was when he started tearing at my clothes. Finally, he pinned me to the ground with the knife inches from my face. I knew then that he going to rape me. One thought rattled round my brain. I have to see my little girl again. So I let him do what he wanted. Waves of nausea and revulsion swept over me.
Just when I thought it would never stop, his mobile rang.
'Not one word…' he warned, holding the knife to my throat.
Then…
'Hi, sweetheart,' he said cheerily into his phone. 'I just got held up a bit baby, but I'll be home in 10 minutes. Love you.'
How could he tell his girlfriend he loved her as he raped me? But his words gave me hope.
Ten minutes, he'd said. Surely he wouldn't be able to kill me in that time? After he hung up, I felt so dirty as I pulled up my trousers and he forced me back into the car.
He babbled like a maniac as he drove, even telling me he'd done time in prison before for rape.
'I can't help it,' he said. 'I have dark thoughts and have to act on them.'
'Why me?' I asked.
'Wrong place, wrong time,' he said.
A moment later, he slammed on the brakes and kicked me out.
I'd been gone just half-an-hour, but it felt like a lifetime as I staggered back to the house.
'I've been raped!' I screamed.
David took one look at my torn clothing and went pale.My whole body was in agony as I was rushed by ambulance to nearby Monklands Hospital, where I was examined and forensic evidence was gathered from me. Afterwards, my arm was put in a cast, then a police officer showed me photographs of sex offenders. I spotted him straight away.
The police didn't seem surprised and within a few hours, he'd been arrested. His name was Grant McPherson, 32. He'd been released from prison just three months earlier, after serving 10 years for raping a teenage girl at knifepoint and sexually assaulting her friend. But knowing he'd been caught didn't stop me falling apart. Two days after the rape, I tried to slit my wrists. Luckily, David got me to hospital.
'Amy-Lee needs you,' he sobbed.
I knew he was right. But when I held Amy-Lee, I felt numb. Like I'd forgotten what to do with her. I was so angry, I began to self-harm, trying to bleed out the pain. I couldn't even leave the house. Ann had to take Amy-Lee to her house for a couple of days because
I was in such a state.
Last August, McPherson pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow, so I didn't need to give evidence. I was so relieved when the police called to tell me. Apparently, he'd drunk 10 cans of lager and a bottle of Buckfast wine before raping me. When he'd got home, he'd told his girlfriend, the one he'd spoken to while attacking me, that he'd 'raped a lassie'. Judge Lord Hodge described the attack as 'savage and degrading'. But sentencing has been deferred for psychiatric reports. At least he's in jail at the moment. Apparently, he admitted to police that he couldn't handle being outside and that if he was free, what happened to me would happen again to someone else.
As far as I'm concerned, he's the devil and should never be let out. Six months on, I still suffer horrendous flashbacks. David and Amy-Lee are my world and I owe it to them and myself to get through this. I know I'll recover. I have to.
What happened to Margaret is rare — 97 per cent of callers to rape crisis lines knew their attacker. Visit the Rape Crisis Federation website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk
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