A TEENAGER who raped three schoolgirls in a forest and a park — telling one of them “that needs to be hurt” — cried while in custody.
Liam Hughes, now 18, was just 15 and 16 when he raped his victims in a series of incidents in the Falkirk and Grangemouth areas of Stirlingshire over an 18-month period.
1
Liam Hughes, now 18, was just 15 and 16 when he raped his victims Credit: Central Scotland News Agency
Two of his victims were also 15 — the other still only 14.
A fourth girl, also 15 years old, was sexually assaulted by Hughes.
The High Court in Stirling heard how Hughes “forced himself” on his youngest rape victim in Zetland Park, Grangemouth, in October 2020, then raped one of the 15-year-old girls in woodland in the town the following May.
The court heard that the rape in the woods, off Primrose Avenue, Grangemouth, began as consensual sex, but the girl begged Hughes to stop because there was a rock or stone underneath her.
She said he ignored her, however, and continued, telling her: “It’s meant to hurt.”
A month later, the same girl woke up at a party in Hallglen, Falkirk, to find her underwear down and Hughes having sex with her while she slept.
He also continued to orally rape her.
She went to the police within a few days.
Hughes was quickly arrested and appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court, but was released on bail.
Nine months later, in March last year, he raped a 15-year-old girl — whom he had never met before — in woods near a primary school in Grangemouth.
The girl gave the court what prosecutor Ali Murray described as a “graphic account of what happened to her”.
She said that she had been raped, that there was “a lot of blood” and that she was “in great pain”.
Hughes, an electrician from Castleton Crescent, Grangemouth, who denied wrongdoing, said the girls “got together and made up stories” against him.
He said, “They can say that, but I never did any of that.”
After six days of evidence, a jury of eight men and seven women deliberated for almost two full days before finding Hughes guilty of raping three girls – one of them twice – and sexually assaulting a fourth girl.
Accusations that he raped two other girls, one aged 14, the other the day after her 16th birthday, were not proven, and he was found not guilty of sexually assaulting a sixth girl, a 14-year-old.
He cried, sobbed and shook while the verdicts were being recorded, and had to be given a waste paper bin in the dock after he vomited and said he was going to vomit.
All verdicts were by majority.
His mother was also sobbing on the public benches.
Judge Lord Young remanded him in custody for a background report.
He told him: “The jury convicted you of rape and sexual assault.
“I will not give bail – the offenses are too serious for that.”
He has been placed on the sex offenders’ register and will be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on November 21.
Edward Targowski KC, defense, mitigation reserved.
Mr Targowski said: “He lives with his parents and I think the court will require a medical report, which has probably been obtained by the defence.”
We pay for your stories and videos! Have a story or video for The Scottish Sun? Email us at [email protected] or call 0141 420 5200
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education