March 2013

Rosslyn rapist Robert Greens sent back to jail

Rosslyn rapist Robert Greens has been ordered to serve another year of his original jail sentence after breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

Greens, 35, was seen in the Midlothian town of Penicuik on 24 October, in breach of the order, which banned him from going there.

He was returned to jail by the same judge who sentenced him in 2006 for the rape of a 19-year-old Dutch student.

Greens was released early last year on strict conditions.

He was sent back to jail because he was still in his licence period when he made the breach.

A planned trial was halted when Green admitted the SOPO breach – which carries a possible maximum sentence of five years, in addition to the 12 months imposed on Wednesday.

Greens original jail term was for raping the student, from the Netherlands, who was spending a gap year in Scotland.

She decided to visit the historic Rosslyn chapel in Midlothian, that featured in the bestselling Dan Brown book “The Da Vinci Code” and the film of the novel, which starred Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou.

‘Worst rapes’

Judge Lord Mackay heard Greens threw his victim down an embankment and beat her so badly that a passing motorist who came to her aid thought she had been knocked down by a car.

Greens, then living in Mayfield, Dalkeith, had been drinking and smoking cannabis after finishing work as a peat cutter.

Det Insp Ronnie Millar, of Lothian and Borders Police, said it was one of the worst rapes he had seen and might have ended up as a murder.

Greens was released last year after serving six years and eight months of a 10-year sentence.

His nine months of freedom ended when he was spotted, on his bike, near a Tesco supermarket in Edinburgh Road, Penicuik, in October.

Solicitor advocate Simon Collins said Greens had been looking for his sister in connection with a court case involving his brother.

The lawyer said there had been no risk of Greens committing the sort of offence the SOPO was designed to prevent.

“This is not a return to offending at any level comparable to the offence which brought the original sentence,” said Mr Collins.

“But he knew he should not have been there,” the lawyer said.

Before his latest arrest Greens was living in Bonnyrigg, Midlothian. During his stay hundreds of locals have marched close to his home against him living there.

Photos courtesy of paul young

Imagine this – A dangerous convicted sex offender is released from prison and moves into your area. What would you do ? Well for a small community in Midlothian, this is exactly what happened. But to add an even more bitter taste, the rapist’s new home is just 15 minutes’ drive (less than 6 miles) from Rosslyn Chapel, where he committed the brutal rape of a teenage girl in 2005. The rural cottage on the outskirts of Newtongrange & Gorebridge, was unbelievably previously occupied by child rapist and paedophile ring member William Dunsmore on his release from prison.

Hundreds of protestors have gathered outside the home of a dangerous convicted rapist living in their community in a bid to get him moved.

Residents from a nearby Midlothian village surrounded the home of Robert Greens, who was released early in February from a ten-year prison sentence for raping a 19-year-old Dutch student in 2005.

It is not him thats needs protecting it is the public !

What family wants to have a sex predator living close by, even one under regular monitoring ? This is a man still considered so dangerous that police knocked on the doors of his new neighbours to inform them not to be alone with him at any time before passing on a pre-printed list of telephone numbers for help and advice.

The real question here is whether justice was served by Greens’ sentence. Should he not be in prison ? Is that not to safest place for society to have him?

Greens is not tagged during daytime, the very time of the day in which he carried out his sick attack. Given he poses a high risk of re-offending, the Midlothian Community believe it is only a matter of time before he strikes again. Neighbours say they are terrified to let their children out to play. And his re-appearance has left the community in fear

Rapist Robert Greens pictured below

Greens home pictured below – previously occupied by child rapist and paedophile ring member  William Dunsmore.

On Monday evening, adults, teenagers and children walked through the small town carrying placards and banners, many chanting “get the beast out”. The peaceful protest rounded up outside Greens’ secluded cottage in Midlothian, where the curtains remained closed.

Greens’s new home is just 15 minutes’ drive (less than 6 miles) from Rosslyn Chapel, where he committed the brutal rape in 2005

Greens is and will always be a danger to society

Robert Greens, 34, had at first tried to blame his twin brother for the attack, but eventually admitted his guilt in the court case in 2006. Greens origionally from Mayfield near Dalkeith, pounced on the teenager in a wooded glen as she walked from Rosslyn Chapel.

Minutes earlier the young married father had been smoking a cannabis joint in his car. Greens, who was driving home from work at a peat farm near Penicuik, swerved into a lay-by after seeing the teenager walking along the road.

She had intended to visit Rosslyn Chapel, which has been made famous in the Dan Brown novel the Da Vinci Code, but arrived as it was closing and decided to walk to a friend’s house in nearby Bonyrigg.

Greens grabbed her by the arms and threw her down a steep wooded embankment. She was shouting, screaming and was desperately trying to get to the road, but when she did so he pushed her back down. At one point she broke free and tried to scramble up the embankment, but Greens grabbed her ankles and pulled her back towards him.

It was then that a brutal rape occurred

After Greens fled the woman managed to scramble back up to the road and was seen by a passing female motorist. The victim’s face was bloodied and swollen with twigs in her hair. At first the woman driver thought she had been in a car crash.

Her right eye was totally closed with a huge bruised swelling above it and scratches covered her legs and body. For weeks afterwards the victim had all the mirrors in her home covered and still sobs uncontrollably.

Pictured below is the wooded glen where Greens grabbed the teenage girl by the arms and threw her down a steep wooded embankment, where he committed the vicious rape attack and left the victim for dead

Terrified rapist Greens set off a panic attack alarm that is fitted in his home to protect him to alert police, he was said to be scared for his own safety

A large police presence was in attendance and accompanied the crowd to Greens’ home, where marchers chanted behind metal barriers.

Q. How many registered sex offenders are there in the Lothian and
Borders Police area?
A. There are currently 585 living in the community.

There are currently five registered sex offenders managed by Lothian and Borders Police who are classified as ‘missing/wanted’. The most recent figures showed less than half of all sex offenders who admitted or were convicted of sexual offences were jailed. And further more of all the sexual offences reported — only ten per cent — led to someone actually being convicted and found guilty

Greens has Surveillance camera fitted to house

Police Presence outside Greens home

Greens was considered so dangerous in April 2012 that he needed round the clock monitoring. Yet in June 2012 he is moved into a rural community with limited restrictions on his movement !

In April 2012 Greens was allowed to prowl the streets unsupervised ­because council bosses can’t afford to monitor him. Social work bosses axed the round-the-clock monitoring service designed to prevent Robert Greens from striking again.

The rapist initially had two social workers living with him 24 hours a day at a hostel in Edinburgh’s New Town to ensure someone was “always awake” to monitor his movements. But council bosses, police chiefs and the NHS have decided to cut back on Greens’ supervision, which cost an estimated £100,000 a month. Recently a local rape crisis centre was closed due to lack of funding.

It means that despite being deemed a “very serious risk” to the public by police, he was free to wander around during the day. Greens is monitored under the Mappa (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) system for monitoring sex offenders and wears an electronic tag, and is under a curfew

As well as social workers, the operation to supervise Greens also involved up to 100 police shifts a week. 

When Robert Greens was in Saughton prison he acted as a counsellor. He would lend a sympathetic  ear  to other troubled sex offenders and advised them on their problems. In his role as a “listener”, Greens met other prisoners on a one-to-one basis and gave them guidance and contact details for support groups.

Yet in 2009 he ended up in a segregation cell after battering fellow sex beast Kevin Fyffe. Greens, who had the cell next to Fyffe, in the sex offenders’ wing, punched him several times in the face before officers dragged him away.

June 2012 – 1700-strong mob demand removal of Da Vinci rapist Robert Greens

A peaceful protest surrounded the home of Da Vinci rapist Robert Greens last night calling for the sex attacker to be moved. Up to 1700 marched through Newtongrange, in Midlothian, carrying placards and banners until they reached the rapist’s secluded cottage on the outskirts of Bonnyrigg.

Concerned parents, scared residents, teenagers and young children chanted “Get the beast out”. And two young girls held a large banner reading “We should not live in fear.” The protest was peaceful but Greens’s curtains remained closed and he did not come out to face the mob.

March organiser Sharon O’Donnell, 41, was overwhelmed with the turnout and said she would round up as many people as she could and return every night until the sex beast is moved.

She added: “It’s disgusting that this monster has been rehomed in the area where he committed that sickening crime. “The whole community is terrified. The situation is a disgrace and we won’t stop till he’s gone and our children are safe.”

March organiser Sharon O’Donnell interviewed for tv news

Lothian and Borders Police Superintendent Liz McAinsh said: “We fully understand the public concern that exists around Robert Greens’s return to the community. “This activity has been mostly peaceful and we would like to thank the participants who have conducted themselves in a law-abiding manner.

“We continue to appeal to people to remain calm and to work with the partners involved for the benefit of the wider community.”

Britain’s most unwanted: All requests made to other UK councils to house rapist refused

Protesters gather outside the Parliament to force Robert Greens out of his home

DA Vinci rapist Robert Greens cannot be housed by any other council in the UK – because they have all refused to take him.

 Campaigners have been told that requests for a possible transfer of the convicted sex offender were sent to other councils in Scotland, England and Wales. Protesters said they were told every single authority asked refused to take him because of his high-profile offences and the publicity surrounding his re-housing.

The meeting between campaigners, Midlothian Council officials and partner agencies of Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) took place earlier this week at Fairfield House.

MAPPA officials suggested that the protest be dampened down, in an effort to entice councils who might potentially be willing to house Greens. However, protesters have rejected such claims, believing them instead to be part of a cynical ploy by MAPPA to silence their campaign.

Conviction to confrontation

April 2006: Robert Greens is jailed for ten years after being found guilty of raping a 19-year-old Dutch student at Rosslyn Chapel in May 2005.

January 2012: Greens is released from HMP Saughton after serving two-thirds of his term.

February 2012: Residents stage a protest outside his new home in Dalkeith. Later that month he is removed after more than 100 people march on Midlothian Council’s head office to protest.

February 2012: He loses his court bid to avoid an order restricting his movements as it emerges that he has been diagnosed as a psychopath.

February 2012: A 100-strong mob descends on a homeless unit in Loanhead after rumours spread that he is living there.

March 2012: Greens is spotted walking around the Capital having being rehoused in a hostel just yards from a city primary school.

April 2012: Midlothian Council insist a decision to remove two round-the-clock social workers is not due to cost, but follows a fresh risk assessment under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements.

May 2012: Greens is moved out of the Lothians to a secret location as part of work to “re-integrate” him back into the community.

June 2012: Residents lay siege to his new secluded home on the outskirts of Bonnyrigg.