Criminal Who Attacked Tag Fitter Receives Extended Sentence
A 39-year-old man has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for carrying out a terrifying knifepoint sexual assault on a woman who visited his home to repair his electronic monitoring tag. Patrick Nolan preyed on the G4S employee at his residence in the Western Isles on 25 May this year, in an attack that left the victim physically injured and deeply traumatised.
The Terrifying Ordeal Unfolds
The court heard how the woman had attended Nolan's address after the monitoring tag he was wearing as part of a restriction of liberty order malfunctioned. As she prepared to leave, Nolan, who had been drinking, retrieved a long-bladed knife from his kitchen and demanded she remove her clothing. When the victim resisted his advances, Nolan grabbed at her clothing, and during the ensuing struggle, she sustained a minor laceration to her hand.
Showing remarkable composure despite her fear, the woman managed to talk Nolan down by speaking calmly to him. She told him he "didn't have to do this" before eventually seizing an opportunity to flee to safety, where she immediately alerted both her supervisors and Police Scotland.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
Nolan pleaded guilty to the sexual assault last month at the High Court in Edinburgh. Sentencing him on Monday, judge Lady Ross told Nolan, who appeared via videolink from prison, that he had assaulted the woman "with the intention of raping her." She praised the victim's "professionalism, quick thinking and resilience" in preventing the situation from becoming even worse.
Lady Ross emphasised the seriousness of attacking someone carrying out their duties within the criminal justice system, stating: "Your assault, especially a sexual assault, particularly against a person in the course of her employment, is a very serious matter."
The court was told that following the attack, the woman became so distressed she struggled to breathe when calling her supervisor. When contacting police, she was described as being "clearly in a state of distress and close to tears."
Extended Sentence and Additional Measures
Nolan received an extended sentence comprising four-and-a-half years in prison followed by two years on licence once released back into the community. With more than 30 previous convictions for offences including theft and road traffic violations, the judge determined Nolan presented a "risk of harm to the public" necessitating the extended sentence.
In addition to his prison term, Nolan has been placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely and prohibited from contacting his victim. Defence solicitor advocate Shahid Latif told the court his client wished to "express his remorse, regret and apologies" to the woman, acknowledging that "no one should have had to go through what happened that day."
Mr Latif described the conviction as "a crossroads in his life" for Nolan and indicated he would engage with any rehabilitation programmes available to him during his incarceration.
