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Man who attempted to rape Australian backpacker between Kinlochewe and Torridon is jailed


By Gregor White

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The High Court in Glasgow.
The High Court in Glasgow.

A sex attacker who pounced on a backpacker after taking her to Culloden Battlefield has been jailed for five years.

Bruce Reid (50) had offered the 25-year-old woman a lift as she waited for a bus near Inverness in August last year.

She later agreed to go camping with him and it was in a tent that he attacked her.

She escaped and hid in woodland until police came.

Reid, of Cullen, Morayshire, today returned to the High Court in Glasgow having earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of assault with intent to rape.

It emerged Reid already had a previous conviction for a sexual offence.

Judge Lady Stacey told him: "You betrayed the trust that young woman showed in you when she accepted the lift.

"You have caused her a great deal of anguish. She struggled with you and managed to escape in a remote part of the country.

"She must have been extremely frightened. You have caused her injury both physically and emotionally."

Reid was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register.

The victim had been backpacking across Europe and the UK.

She was waiting for a bus when Reid pulled up in his car and offered to take her to the battlefield at Culloden.

The pair later pitched a tent near Liathach.

When he tried to hug her she told him it was "inappropriate."

Prosecutor Lindsey Dalziel said: "Reid became more persistent and she had to physically push him away.

"He grabbed her – she told him to stop. She feared for her life and reached towards a multi-tool to try and stab Reid to get him off."

He then bit her on the arm and swore at her before she grabbed her phone and fled.

She called her boyfriend in Australia to get the emergency number for police in Scotland and, having dialled 999, hid in a bush until officers turned up.

The court heard the woman now suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.

Shahid Latif, defending, said Reid made a "gross error of judgement" which was "befuddled by alcohol".

He added: "He had realised something bad had happened and was awaiting the arrival of the police."


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