Rapist Fraser Murray’s 10-year prison term at High Court in Edinburgh ‘a disgrace’ says mother of Black Isle child victim

A rapist who subjected a young girl to years of sexual abuse should have been jailed much longer for his crimes, the child’s mother has said after branding the attacker’s prison term “a disgrace”.

Fraser Murray (33), from Croy, was jailed for 10 years at the High Court in Edinburgh last week over a string of serious sexual assaults in his home town and a Black Isle village between 2018 and 2022. On one of the occasions he even raped his victim while she slept.

The girl, who was 10 at the time of the first of those offences, cannot be named for legal reasons.

Murray’s depravity also included taking videos of her while she was undressing, and claiming his young victim had initiated sex.

As well as jailing Murray for 10 years, Judge Lord Fairley also placed him on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life and passed a non-harassment order preventing him from getting in touch with his victim.

Following the sentencing, the girl’s mother - who also cannot be named as it would risk identifying her daughter - has since spoken to the press in the hope that Murray’s crimes remain in the public eye, and that the dangers he poses are known by the community when he is finally released from prison.

She said: “I don't agree with his sentencing. Her victim statement was, the judge said, one of the worst ones they'd read.

“To hear that and to hear he's got 10 years and can ask for parole in five - and that he's already signed up for a programme in prison so he's fully aware that if he behaves and he jumps through the hoops he can potentially be out in five years - is a disgrace really.

“The police have been amazing since day one, it's literally just the court system... you get more for dealing drugs than for what he's done, and to me that's just ridiculous.

“Even if he's out in 10 [instead of five], he'll be what, 43? He's destroyed her, he's destroyed her childhood.”

She was also critical of the decision to let Murray remain on bail until he pleaded guilty, given that there was video evidence of some of his crimes.

“They didn't keep him on remand and he was out loose for two years [waiting on the trial],” she continued. “For 18 months of that [my daughter] was in her room cutting herself. And he was off on all-inclusive holidays and things like that. I can see why people don't come forward when they go through these things because of everything they have to go through after it.”

She also praised her daughter’s strength for coming forward and making sure Murray faced justice.

“I’m incredibly [proud of her]. The first thing she had to go through was a three-hour videoed interview of everything he'd done to her, with the police.

“She did all of that, and to have sit there and go through it all again, on video, with other people, is hard in itself. And then she's obviously spent two years [waiting on the trial], and we were only a few days off her having to give [evidence in court] when he decided to plead guilty.

“I mean, he was videoing [his crimes], there was video evidence, so there was no way he was going to take that to trial, however he waited until the last minute to plead guilty, which again, in itself, when there's evidence like that against someone with a child, why was he not held on remand? Why was he out in public?”

She added that the decision to let him out on bail while awaiting trial was also traumatic for her daughter.

“It was traumatic in that he only lived in Croy. My daughter is a teenager, she wanted to go shopping with her friends in town, and I was like 'what happens if you bump into him, what happens if I bump into him?'“

She continued: “So it's like we were being punished, because we had to be so careful where we went. I was constantly checking over my shoulder and it was a huge relief last month when he pled guilty and they kept him on remand. It was like a weight had been lifted and we could actually move around more freely.”

The mother also praised her “incredible” daughter for the way she has begun rebuilding her life despite the trauma she has faced, and the effects it had on her education.

“Thankfully she's now got herself a little job and got into college. She has pulled herself out and managed to get into college now, but she's still damaged from it.

“She's definitely trying to find who she is now. But some days you'll speak to her and she kind of flips back to that eight-year-old, you know all the damage hasn't been undone. That in itself speaks of the trauma she's gone through, But she's an incredible girl. To go through what she's been through and to hold her head high and to get a job and to get into college, she's incredible.

“But I don't want other children to have to go through it, because the next one might not be as strong as her.”

She added that going public was an attempt to protect others from Murray when he is eventually released.

“He is a danger. He comes across as a meek little mouse who has had a really poor upbringing, and 'poor me', and then behind closed doors does unspeakable things to children.

“It's just so people are aware that looks can be deceiving can't they - you never really know someone.”