A serial rapist imprisoned after terrorising women in Dundee for nearly 15 years has died behind bars.
High-risk father-of-ten Lee Thomson subjected three victims to rape ordeals, including two who were unconscious after he throttled them.
In 2020, Thomson was handed a minimum six-year jail sentence at The High Court in Edinburgh, though he was warned he may never have been released from his Order for Lifelong Restriction.
He had been convicted of 14 charges – six of rape, two of sexual assault, four of physical assault and also stalking offences.
As well as Dundee, the ex-soldier’s offending took place in Perthshire and Newport-on-Tay.
The Scottish Prison Service confirmed this week that the 52-year-old, of HMP Glenochil, died on 20 May, 2024.
A fatal accident inquiry will be held.
Sick selfie
A Dundee paedophile was caught with a sick selfie taken while a child was nearby. John Milne, 28, appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court to admit sexual offending and will be sentenced later.
Jailed after multiple offences
A violent Dundee thug who, among a litany of offences attacked an ex-girlfriend and bit a police officer’s fingers, has been jailed for two years.
Kyle Kelbie will also be under supervision for nine months after he is released.
Kelbie, 25, of Swallowtail Court, admitted:
- assaulting and injuring his ex-partner on August 12 and 13 2020 by seizing her face, covering her mouth and nose, and grabbing her by the throat and compressing it, seizing her by the body, dragging her to the floor and repeatedly punching her head;
- assaulting another woman during the same incident;
- possessing two knives at Rear Admiral Court, Dundee in June 2022, and acting in a threatening or abusive manner;
- acting in a threatening or abusive manner towards his partner on December 8 last year;
- breaching bail and assaulting one PCs by bending his thumb back and another by biting his fingers, refusing to desist until he had been punched in the face three times;
- attempting to pervert the course of justice by giving the PCs a false name in April this year.
Solicitor Doug McConnell said: “What he’s going to do is put his head down in custody and get a job.”
Sheriff Paul Brown also imposed a five-year non-harassment order to protect the ex-partner Kelbie assaulted.
Flattened traffic lights
A teenager flattened traffic lights and a lamppost and forced a police officer to run for his life as he raced a stranger through Dundee city centre at high speed. Jack Skelly lost control of his Suzuki Ignis and mounted a central reservation before smashing into the street furniture and tearing it from its moorings. A police officer leaving work and about to cross the road was forced to turn out of the way of Skelly’s vehicle.
Rape intent allegations not proven
Allegations an award-winning former special constable sexually assaulted a mother with the intention of raping were not proven.
Prosecutors alleged Christopher Ettershank, 34, sexually assaulted the woman in the early hours of the morning while walking home from DeVito’s nightclub in Arbroath on November 20 2021.
Mr Ettershank’s three-day trial at Dundee Sheriff Court heard claims from the complainer he bit her bottom lip so hard it burst, before he placed her in a headlock and touched her indecently.
She said she thought she would die in the alleged attack by Mr Ettershank, from Arbroath.
She claimed she threatened to kill Mr Ettershank while clutching a set of keys in a bid to scare him off, before running home to call police.
Jurors were shown her tights, which had holes near the top, where Mr Ettershank’s DNA was found.
Mr Ettershank denied sexual assault to injury, with intent to rape.
The former joiner, who now runs a property development business, gave evidence he kissed and cuddled the woman, consensually “nibbled” at her lip and kissed her neck “over-enthusiastically” after drinking beer, wine, vodka and Disaranno that evening.
When asked if he was attracted to the complainer, he replied: “With beer goggles on.”
After around an hour of deliberations, the jury found the charge not proven by majority.
Struck off
A sheriff at the centre of a sexual misconduct probe has been removed from office. Former Dundee solicitor Jack Brown was formally struck off by First Minister John Swinney following a damning judicial tribunal ruling.
Handbag grab
A Dundee duo admitted stealing a handbag during a violent robbery in Lochee.
Robert Robertson, 43 – on bail at the time – and Christine McNicol, 47, appeared at the city’s sheriff court to admit assault and robbery.
Both accused, of Dudhope Court, pounced on their victim on December 19 2022 at St Mary’s Street.
They grabbed the woman’s bag, struggled with her, pulled her over and dragged her along the ground, then applied pressure to her neck with a foot before robbing her of her handbag and its contents.
Sheriff Paul Brown ordered reports and deferred sentencing until June 18.
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