THOMAS PROCTOR, A SOCIAL WORKER IN AIRDRIE, JAILED FOR SERIAL RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULTS IN SCOTLAND

A social worker from Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Thomas Proctor, has been sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of multiple rapes and sexual assaults. The High Court in Glasgow found him guilty of attacking three women across Glasgow, Fife, and Lanarkshire between January 2002 and August 2019.

Proctor, aged 43, exploited his professional position to intimidate and assault, including threatening to remove the children of two victims. He raped one woman while she was hospitalized recovering from a medical procedure and took advantage of another woman after she drank water containing a mysterious substance.

Proctor denied the allegations; however, the jury convicted him on a total of 11 charges, including repeated rape and indecent assault of the first woman at various locations in Lanarkshire. He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting a second woman at her flat in Glasgow's Maryhill and of raping and threatening a third woman in Fife and Lanarkshire.

Judge William Gallacher sentenced Proctor to an 11-year extended sentence, which involves eight years in custody followed by three years of supervision after release. The judge described Proctor's actions as "simply disgraceful" and explained, "It is difficult to figure out the appropriate sentence due to the level of abuse carried out over a period of time. I will impose a significant penalty. You will have grasped that because of the gravity of this case, there is only one thing I can do."

Following the sentencing, one of Proctor’s victims expressed her feelings: "I am really pleased with the judge's reflections of the offences. I understand the appropriate length of the sentence, however my fear is that it doesn't reflect the number of potential other victims." An indefinite non-harassment order was issued against Proctor, and he was placed on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.

During his closing statement, prosecutor Alan Parfery described Proctor as "calculated in a predatory fashion" towards his victims. He detailed that the first woman was raped while recovering in hospital. Proctor also attacked her again at a house in Lanarkshire after entering the room and pulling down her pyjamas.

The second victim recounted waking up to find Proctor molesting her. The third woman met Proctor online and was with him after returning from a night out at the Edinburgh Festival. She drank a glass of water he offered, they kissed, and her next memory involved waking up in pain. Prosecutors allege Proctor caused her to "ingest an unknown substance in water" to facilitate sexual assault.

Similar incidents reportedly happened on two other occasions, where he gave water to the woman, told her to "drink up," and she later woke with "flashbacks" of the events.

Prosecutor Parfery highlighted that Proctor used his role as a social worker to threaten two of the women, saying, "You told her that you held such a job and how the system worked. That she should be intimate with you if she wanted to keep her child. The cruellest of cruel threats." Proctor denied these accusations, claiming he never used his professional position to threaten anyone.

Prior to his suspension, Proctor worked as a social worker in the Alloa area within Clackmannanshire. After the case, Clackmannanshire Council confirmed that Proctor was no longer employed by the local authority.