Police acknowledge 8 year sentencing of Duncan Begg for serious violent and sexual crimes

4th August 2014

Police Scotland acknowledges the 8 year sentence given to Duncan Begg at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday 01 August 2014, following his conviction in July for serious violent and sexual crimes.

Mr Begg was convicted of rapes, sexual assaults and assaults of women in Caithness between 1984 and 2010.

Detective Inspector Eddie Ross of the Inverness based Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit, and Chair of the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) in Highland, which focuses on protecting high risk victims of domestic abuse, said: "Police Scotland acknowledges the courage of Duncan Begg's victims in not only coming forward to the police but staying with the prosecution process to conviction and the subsequent sentencing which took place on Friday last week.

"This case is one of the first investigated by the Inverness based Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit which was established in September 2012. The Unit works with other agencies as well as other similar Police Units across Scotland, to protect victims of domestic abuse and their children. As well as this victim focussed work, research and targeting of repeat perpetrators of domestic abuse is a core function of Domestic Abuse Investigation Units in Police Scotland."

DI Ross added: "Police Scotland pro-actively focuses resources on the perpetrators of domestic crime by profiling offenders and identifying victims to ensure that best evidence is gathered so that those who commit domestic abuse offences are brought to justice.

"I hope that this conviction and sentence will bring some comfort to the victims in this case and gives confidence to any victims who have suffered similar experiences to come forward in the knowledge that their case will be sensitively and thoroughly investigated.

"Anyone who feels they may have been a victim of any kind of abuse is urged to come forward and speak to police in confidence. They should not feel as though they must suffer in silence."

Police can be contacted via 101 or by visiting a local police station. Alternatively members of the public can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 where no personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.