An Irish sex offender has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of a mother-of-three in Scotland. Authorities are now examining how this repeat offender eluded border controls to murder this woman in northern Scotland.
 
The serial sex offender Patrick Rae from County Longford managed to avoid border controls. The 41-year-old has 13 previous convictions including two rapes.
 
Authorities in Ireland had issued two warrants for his arrest before he killed Mary McLaren.
 
A spokesperson from the Scottish Government said “This was an extremely disturbing case, and our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time…Such crimes are rare, but given the circumstances surrounding it, a significant case review is now underway, led by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS).”
 
Scottish TV reports that in 1997 Rae was jailed for seven years for raping a woman in his home town in Longford. He was released in 2002.
 
In April 2008 Rae was charged in Ireland with sexually assaulting a woman in Dublin. He failed to inform the Irish authorities when he changed his address.
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The criminal changed the spelling of his name from Rea to Rae when he moved to Scotland. Rae had been staying at a Traveller’s halting site in Aberdeenshire before moving into an apartment in Arbroath, Angus, with his Scottish girlfriend.
 
With hours of meeting McLaren in Fat Sam’s nightclub Rae raped and strangled her. He dumped her body in the undergrowth at a rotary in the city. CCTV capture Rae and McLaren leaving the niteclub together.
 
On Friday Rae was found guilty by a majority verdict. The prosecutors called it a horrific attack.
 
The judge, Lord Tyre, said Rae had shown no compassion for his victim. He said “You preyed on a woman who . . . by all accounts was already the worse for drink. You viciously raped and strangled her, leaving her body to be found many days later.”
 
The family impact statement stated “Today’s verdict does not bring Mary back to us. It doesn’t take away the pain or the grief that we feel for our loss of Mary. No sentence will stop the nightmares that we all have thinking about how Mary must have suffered at the hands of this man.
 
“We are thankful of the decision reached by the jury today as it means this man will face the consequences of taking Mary from us.”
 
Within 24 hours of entering prison Rae was attacked by a fellow inmate. The inmate slipped into his cell and “slapped him around” according to the Evening Telegraph. He is understood to be a target for all his fellow prisoner who consider him a “beast”.