Police Scotland welcome life sentence of John MacIntosh from Dingwall for serious sexual assaults and rape

13th August 2014

Police Scotland welcomes the life sentence of John MacIntosh (46) from Dingwall at the High Court in Aberdeen on Wednesday 6th August 2014, for serious sexual assaults and rapes against women and a child in the Highlands from 1996 to 2004. One of these related to the assault and attempted rape of a 9 year old child. Others involved the raping of adult women.

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: "This is the second significant sentence handed out in the space of a week to domestic rapists who have been the target of the Inverness based Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit.

"Duncan Begg received an 8 year sentence on Friday 1st August for domestic related rapes and sexual assaults committed in Caithness.

"I would like to acknowledge the dedication of the officers of the local Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit. These cases are difficult to investigate and progress to a satisfactory outcome. However, these results stand as testimony to the dedication of these small teams and how well local policing fits into the Police Scotland environment. This local team works closely with other agencies as well as other similar police units across Scotland which includes the National Domestic Abuse Coordination Unit, to protect victims of domestic abuse and their children. As well as this victim focused work, research and targeting of repeat perpetrators of domestic abuse, is a core function of Domestic Abuse Investigation Units across Police Scotland."

"Another significant result in recent times is the conviction of Patrick Savage Chinskie who was convicted on 26th June 2014 at Edinburgh High Court, where he was found guilty of 12 charges for crimes including rape, assault and sexual offences.

"Mr Chinskie was the target of the North Area Domestic Abuse Task Force, which works closely with the local Inverness unit."

Detective Inspector Ross concluded: "I must emphasise that this latest case, like others have been instigated by another agency, in this case the National Health Service referring concerns. Multi-agency working and the support that this provides for victims is at the heart of keeping people safe.

"During the investigation there was also significant involvement from the local authority in terms of housing and social work support for not only the victims but also their children. However, the most important people in all this are the victims and I must pay tribute to them in both coming forward to the police and staying with the prosecution process to conviction. I hope that this result will bring some comfort to the victims in this case and give confidence to anyone who have suffered similar experiences to come forward in the knowledge that their case will be sensitively and thoroughly investigated."

Police can be contacted via 101 or by visiting a local police station. Alternatively 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.