Carer Relives The Horror Of Rape Attack By Teenage Drug Addict

A woman raped at knifepoint by a teenage heroin addict revealed yesterday that thoughts of her young granddaughter sustained her during the terrifying ordeal. Anne Doherty, 50, above, thought she was going to die when she was attacked while working at a care home.

She waived her legal right to anonymity in the hope that her story might help people to understand what rape victims go through. Mrs Doherty, from Falkirk, said: “I have nothing to be ashamed of. It hasn’t ruined my life – it’s ruined his own life.”

Her attacker, Steven Malcolm, 19, was jailed for at least nine years at the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday. The judge, Lord Menzies, also put imposed a life-long restriction order, meaning Malcolm will be monitored for the rest of his life.

Mrs Doherty’s was attacked on 20 July last year while she was on duty at the care home operated by Forth Valley NHS Trust, where had worked at for a decade. It was a warm summer evening and the doors had been left open to let in a breeze.

But Malcolm, out on bail and probation for offences committed over the previous two years, had slipped in through the doors and was hiding in a bedroom. “All of a sudden, the door of the boiler cupboard burst open and this man jumped out waving a machete,” Mrs Doherty said.

Malcolm was drunk, high on heroin and shouting wildly. When some of the vulnerable residents came to investigate the commotion, Mrs Doherty persuaded Malcolm to let them go to the safety of the living-room.

He then grabbed a friend of Mrs Doherty’s and put the knife to her throat. Mrs Doherty begged him to leave, but instead he grabbed her and led her down the stairs. Initially, she thought he wanted to steal something, but as he went round the lower floor locking doors, she realised what he was about to do. He forced her into a staff bedroom, barricaded the door and ordered her to strip, with the knife at her neck. Then he raped her twice. Even then, the ordeal was not over.

“Out the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw his left hand raise the knife to thrust it towards my throat. I thought, he’s going to kill me,” Mrs Doherty said. “I grabbed the handle of the knife and clung on. I didn’t want to die that way. I kept saying to him, ‘I’ve got family, I’ve got a granddaughter, please don’t kill me’,” she said.

For about 20 minutes, she put up a fight for her life. “When he realised I wasn’t letting go, he started to bite my arm. I’ve still got the scars. He literally took two chunks out of my arm, but I didn’t really feel it. I just knew I couldn’t let go as he was so enraged, if I did let go, he was going to kill me.”

During her ordeal, police surrounded the building after another staff member raised the alarm. But when Malcolm heard footsteps outside the bedroom window, he headbutted Mrs Doherty, then punched her. He warned her to tell police to back off or he would slit her throat.

When officers rang the bell, Malcolm ordered her to the door with the knife at her back. A policeman shouted, “Go, go, go!” when the door was opened and, as Mrs Doherty ran for it, a police dog seized Malcolm by the leg and he was arrested.

Although Mrs Doherty still bears the scars of the attack, she returned to work recently, saying she was determined Malcolm would not ruin her life. Malcolm, of Camelon, Falkirk, is the second dangerous criminal in Scotland to be subjected to a life-long restriction order.