Ten years ago, convicted killer Patrick Rae woke up in a Clackmannanshire jail cell as he began his life sentence for the brutal and chilling murder of 34-year-old Mary McLaren.
The mother of three had been enjoying a night out with her sister Michelle Rodger in February 2010 when the pair met Rae – blissfully unaware that he was a serial sex offender on the run from police in his home of Ireland.
That night out would be the last time Mary was seen alive.
February 25 2010
Mary and little sister Michelle were out for a night on the town on February 25 2010.
The pair had started their evening in the Gauger pub before heading to Fat Sam’s nightclub.
It was at the club that they first ran in to Rae.
Giving evidence at the trial in 2011 Michelle described Rae as “scruffy” and needing a shave but they felt bad for him after he had mentioned the death of his mother.
They both then danced and talked with Rae but he started to become overly friendly and was now pestering the women for sex.
Referring to her sister, Michelle added: “I heard her saying to him, ‘I don’t mind dancing with you, we can have a laugh, but not the way you are thinking.'”
As the evening came to an end Michelle was outside the club when she was arrested by police for throwing paper aimed at Rae, which struck an officer.
She told the High Court in Edinburgh: “I shouted I didn’t mean to do it. I said it wasn’t meant for you it was meant for him.
“He has been hassling us and saying you are going to die after sex.”
After the incident outside the club, Michelle claimed police told her they had put Mary in a taxi.
Unknown to Michelle, Mary had actually left with Rae.
Missing person enquiry
When Mary failed to return home, her family were not initially concerned but after receiving no contact from her for two days they began to worry that something bad had happened.
Her mother Margaret reported her missing to the police and an investigation began.
Details of the investigation were put onto the HOLMES (Home Office Large Major Inquiry System) computer which allowed all police forces in the UK to cross-check information about the progress of the probe and flag up potential new leads themselves.
Mary was last seen walking in the city’s Marketgait, during the early hours of Thursday, February 25 and CCTV footage of her and a male inside the club were subsequently released by detectives as they stepped up the hunt.
On the night she vanished Mary had been wearing a black-and-white leopard print dress, black leggings, a white duffel coat and flat black shoes.
More than 50 officers and police staff were involved with the missing person inquiry with fliers being handed out to pub and club-goers in Dundee city centre during the search.
A specially-trained search team would spend days combing the local area after using local knowledge to identify likely routes she would have taken after leaving the club.
Just hours before police were due to hold a reconstruction of her last known movements on March 10 2010, two weeks after Mary was last seen, a woman’s corpse hidden under a “quilt” of ivy was found near the city’s busy Ladywell Roundabout.
Sgt Scott Findlayson, the officer who first made the grim discovery said: “I found a pair of feet and I knew right away there was a body there.”
Mary had been found.
Killer Patrick Rae
On the night of February 24 2010, 41-year old Patrick Rae had been out drinking with an acquaintance before deciding to continue alone throughout the evening.
After leaving Fat Sam’s nightclub in the city centre, Mary was seen walking with Rae, through the centre and along Rattray’s Close before arriving at the area close to Ladywell roundabout.
Footage of Rae walking to a garage about two hours later, along with eyewitness evidence provided by the garage clerk, made Rae the prime suspect in Mary’s horrific murder.
Despite previous convictions including rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and assault, Rae protested his innocence, however a scientist was able to link distinctive pollen spores and grains from the crime scene with a pair of Rae’s shoes.
At the trial the jury of eight men and seven women heard that at the crime scene, Rae stabbed his helpless victim, before strangling her, forcing her clothes off, beating her and raping her.
They took just two-and-a-half hours to return their majority guilty verdict.
Rae would go on to be sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 20 years.
In court, judge Lord Tyre told Rae: “The horror and terror Mary McLaren must have experienced during this murderous attack can only be imagined.
“You have persistently lied about your involvement and attempted to adapt your story to fit the facts as new evidence emerged to incriminate you.”
Rae showed no reaction to the guilty verdict but he smiled as he was being led to the cells.
Failings by Irish police
Following the June conviction it emerged Rae could have been stopped before he killed – if police in Scotland had been told a dangerous man was on the loose.
Rae went on the run in Scotland because officers in his home town of Longford in Ireland were hunting him over a serious sex assault.
But the Gardai failed to apply for a European arrest warrant, meaning the Scottish police who questioned him up to 10 times over minor offences before the killing had no idea that he was a wanted man and a dangerous sex offender.
A senior Scottish police source said at the time: “There’s no doubt if a European warrant had been issued, Mary McLaren would still be alive.
“When Rae was picked up, alarm bells would have rung and he would have been arrested and quickly returned to Ireland – if the warrant had existed. But we had no idea how dangerous he was. He wasn’t on the system.
“Rae was stopped and questioned up to 10 times across Scotland for a theft and a number of minor traffic and vehicle offences prior to Mary’s death. But his name didn’t flag up on our system and he was released each time.
“It wouldn’t have mattered if he’d given a false name or date of birth because his DNA, fingerprints and other information would have checked out against the European warrant.”
Rae had been charged with sexual assault and assault causing harm to a woman in Portmarnock, near Dublin, in April 2008.
But he skipped trial and a warrant – which only covered Ireland – was issued for his arrest in November 2009.
Rae was serving his time at Glenochil Prison in Clackmannanshire following the murder conviction, but, after reports of him being targeted by fellow cons, he pleaded to be moved closer to family in Ireland.
Ministers approved the transfer despite the decision being blasted by Mary’s family and councillors in Rae’s hometown also slamming the move, insisting they didn’t want him anywhere near the country.
The evil killer is now serving the remainder of his sentence in Midlands Prison in Ireland.
